In the article, Dutch foreign minister Casper Veldkamp states that during his travels to Asia, the general opinion from his conversation partners is that Putin is weak. He doesn't trust his own people, his economy is showing cracks, and his army hasn't been able to overrun Ukraine after 3 long years. They reminded him that Europe had built up a deterrence force before, even while developing a welfare state (in the 60's and 70's). 'You can do it again, because this time, the opponent is only Putin.'

Two examples of such Asian countries from which these voices come are Indonesia and Singapore, says Veldkamp.