Last week I noted that Russia was launching its biggest military exercise for 20 years.

Col.-Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces yesterday gave a press conference clarifying Russia’s motives for launching the exercise. And what mixed motives they are…

“The enemy is imaginary,” Baluyevsky said at a news conference. “There is no hint whatsoever that the enemy is the United States, or any other country. The United States holds a similar exercise each year and no one is making a fuss about it.”

At the same time, Baluyevsky reaffirmed Russia’s concern about the development of low-yield nuclear weapons in the United States, saying it destabilizes the world. He said that the Russian maneuver was a reaction to that, but added that “it’s not saber-rattling.”

I wonder if Russia also has imaginary friends that it likes to send little messages to…