We have to be careful in strategic terms, because there's a bit of a tendency to say that the sovereignty issue surrounding the Northwest Passage is a security issue—that somehow the Chinese and the Russians may want to take advantage. The Russians actually have a position that's quite similar to Canada's, in terms of their own northern sea route in the Northeast Passage. It's more the security issue that we have to be concerned about.
At this point in time, one has to wonder whether the Russians, in particular, see the Canadian efforts to not modernize to the same degree that we said we would in 2017. I would also add that our northern European allies have been quite active in modernizing their surveillance and reactive forces since 2016. Whether or not we are seen as a weak link.... Now, “A weak link to what?” always becomes the question.
Therefore, in that context, the answer to your question is that we don't know Putin's thinking or what he means. The danger we face is.... Remember that Putin suggested the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons when the crisis began in the second phase of the Ukrainian war, and he's had a long-term policy for at least a year or a year and a half. It's called “escalate to de-escalate”. We're not quite sure what that means, but whether or not a demonstration of Canadian weakness.... Quite frankly, we don't know, but that does remain a possibility.
The Chinese—