Vladamir Putin tells the west not to fear Russia.

Normally, in the interest of fair reporting, I would try to give an objective measure of a story. Perhaps a satirical jab here and there or a humorous quip. This however, I cannot remain impartial on.

Valamir Putin, the current president of Russia since his appointment in May 2012, has told an Italian newspaper that the speculation (or otherwise rightly founded opinion) that Russia might attack NATO, is complete poppycock. “Only an insane person and only in a dream can imagine that Russia would suddenly attack Nato,” said Putin, today.

This would be a lot easier believe if, on Victory Day a month ago, Putin didn’t put on such an outlandish military showcase What better way to remember how you defeated a dictatorship than by getting out your biggest, f**k off missiles and destructive hardware.

Even if your aren’t that familiar with Russia’s war record, just look at the collection of google images that come up when you type in his name…

How the hell could you trust that face?

So it begs the question, are we disillusioned by the idea of trust? I would make the argument that there is enough stimulus for us to come to the opinion that is man is right a piece of work – a totalitarian, bigot the represents everything wrong with a progressive world. This man is fine not to trust, but what of our fellow man or woman? Our neighbor? Who is the one person in your life that you can say with unquestionable doubt, “I trust you.”

Every day we have our faith tested in other human beings. In technology. In mechanical deices and our environment. To say we have lost our ability to trust would be wrong. But is it perhaps that we choose not to think about it? If we were to ignore trust as marker of judgement, then the outcome of what we do is not our fault. We are apathetic to our circumstances. If I make no judgement based on trust, then I have no influence on my outcome. I am rendered powerless to fate. But I don’t believe in fate.

Let’s bring this pack to Putin for a moment. If we are to ignore what he says, and refuse to engage with stimulus provided about this man then whatever he does is not our fault. However, if we remove ourselves from determinism and make a judgement about whether we trust him then we take responsibility for the outcome. And if we take responsibility, we can make change.

Basically, all I’m saying is I think Putin is a shite trifle.