Idiotic editorial.
Putin, in contrast, doesn’t want to prop up failed former Soviet states.
Why give away the gas when he can charge them for it?!
Both Russia and China see the West as in decay and disarray and are already moving to pick up the pieces. Europe, without the US Forces to protect it would be easy meat for a resurgent Red Army. China, looking South and West is stymied only by Japan, and is working on solving that problem even now. The word is hegemony.
If the US had a strong President now we could possibly counter their moves, but with Bamster Barry, we got nothing.
Hyperbolic editorial by an aggrieved author with several axes to grind. Putin might be everything the writer alleges and worse, but that is not a forgone conclusion. The Black Sea is a Russian lake and has been throughout modern history, and it is a fantasy to believe that any Russian leader would accept a hostile alliance on its northern shore. Crimea and even Ukraine are strategic territories for Russia; whether we like it or not, Putin is restoring the natural order in his region.