Yup. Putin is brushing off Obama’s warning. The Americans are not in a position to lecture to Russia about the sanctity of agreements - backing a regime that repudiated an agreement last week to which the US itself was a signatory.
The Russian Bear is all business. And there is no doubt Crimea will vote to rejoin Mother Russia and that would be a move cloaked in democratic legitimacy, unlike the current regime in Kiev which rose to power through the barrel of a gun.
And what is Obama of the famous red lines going to do? He is gutting his own military left and right and he will not put up a fight for a people who themselves cannot stand up to Russia. Putin has shown he retains all the freedom in the world to do whatever he wants. That by the way - is the bottom line in this crisis.
Most of the people in Crimea are Russians—many ex-military who retired there because its sunny and not freakin’ cold. Its a bit Like Florida in the US. The Ukraine wants to make them speak Ukrainian and be less “Russian”. They will vote to be Russians—Once they have a Free Election—and vote to become part of the Russian Federation—there will be little the west, the US and the Ukrainians can do about it. As for Obamas threats to Putin—I’m sure he cracked a smile over that—The laughter at the Kremlin must have been hear in Red Square.