“I don’t see an implied threat so much as justifying Crimean annexation by citing west German annexation of east Germany.”
Russia’s implied message to Germany is to stop interfering with the Russian invasion, occupation, and annexation of the Ukraine; otherwise we may make a claim that Russia has a right to renounce all prior treaties and agreements recognizing the new German government and its new territorial boundaries encompassing the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) of Germany. If we (meaning Russia) should happen to do so, we may be expected during the 70th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War against the NAZIs to insist upon the resumption of stationing Russian forces in Germany to insure NAZIism cannot rise again to threaten the safety of the Russian Motherland and its people. In other words, Putin and his puppet Russian Duma are making a not so subtle threat to expand a new Russian Empire and its territorial claims in Europe by basing it upon whatever spurious historical excuse they can invent and spin to their advantage.
I agree. They’re using whatever excuse comes to hand. The threats are the next step, followed by ... Showtime.