The Washington Post reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning that his forces could target NATO sites if his country feels threatened.

But it’s not so much the warning that’s important; it’s the timing.

“We are forced to take countermeasures — that is, to aim our missile systems at those facilities which we think pose a threat to us,” Putin said in an interview with American filmmaker Oliver Stone for a documentary broadcast Monday. “The situation is heating up.”

Putin’s harsh words for the Western alliance were broadcast on Russian television as ­President-elect Donald Trump, who has been critical of NATO, pulls together a team and calls for closer ties with the Kremlin. [Continue reading…]