There’s only one subject on today’s Sunday shows. Or rather, one subject in two parts. The first is the state of Russia’s war in Ukraine, of course. The second is the state of mind of the man who’s responsible for it. Is Putin still in touch with reality? Could a fully rational person have miscalculated as badly as he has? What might he be prepared to do when it dawns on him that there are no good outcomes here for Russia?

Former Trump NSC deputy Fiona Hill will share her thoughts with “Meet the Press.” Spoiler: They won’t be encouraging.

The thing about Putin is, if he has an instrument, he wants to use it. Why have it if you can’t? He’s already used a nuclear weapon in some respects. Russian operatives poisoned Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium and turned him into a human dirty bomb and polonium was spread all around London at every spot that poor man visited. He died a horrible death as a result.

The Russians have already used a weapons-grade nerve agent, Novichok. They’ve used it possibly several times, but for certain twice. Once in Salisbury, England, where it was rubbed all over the doorknob of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who actually didn’t die; but the nerve agent contaminated the city of Salisbury, and anybody else who came into contact with it got sickened. Novichok killed a British citizen, Dawn Sturgess, because the assassins stored it in a perfume bottle which was discarded into a charity donation box where it was found by Sturgess and her partner. There was enough nerve agent in that bottle to kill several thousand people. The second time was in Alexander Navalny’s underpants.

So if anybody thinks that Putin wouldn’t use something that he’s got that is unusual and cruel, think again. Every time you think, “No, he wouldn’t, would he?” Well, yes, he would. And he wants us to know that, of course.

Another guest this morning is Marco Rubio, the ranking member of the Senate Intel Community and therefore a man with unusual insight into what the U.S. knows about Putin’s mental health. He’s been chatty online about the subject lately:

Hearing from multiple contacts that Rubio’s statement regarding Putin’s neurological health stems from reports that he is suffering from the onset of Parkinson’s disease. https://t.co/Yoh5fFLiGz

— Alex Plitsas 🇺🇸 (@alexplitsas) February 27, 2022

Rubio will speak with “This Week” and “State of the Union” about what he knows. Otherwise, it’s top diplomats up and down the line this morning. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set for “Meet the Press” and “State of the Union” while our ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, chats with “This Week.” And Biden’s guest of honor at the State of the Union will sit down with “Fox News Sunday” to update Americans on Ukraine’s progress in repelling Russia’s forces. That’s Oksana Markarova, the country’s ambassador to the U.S. Hope for good news. The full line-up is at the AP.