[A-List] Putin's NATO joke

[Michael Hudson]

VLADIMIR PUTIN: If NATO were involved this would
not fundamentally change anything because we know
how decisions are made in NATO. They were made in
the same way in the Warsaw Pact. There was a joke
in East Germany: How can you tell which of the
telephones on Honecker¹s desk is the direct line
to Moscow? Do you know this joke?
 
DER SPIEGEL: No.
 
VLADIMIR PUTIN: The answer is: it¹s the one with
only a receiver and no mouthpiece. (Laughter).
            The same goes for NATO, except that the telephone
line goes not to Moscow in this case but to
Washington, and so it would make no difference to
us if  NATO were heading this project.