Its Putin’s turn to offer Obama that “off-ramp.”
There’ll be a deal in the works to stabilize Ukraine in exchange for the West’s acceptance of the reversion of Crimea to Russian rule.
Nothing here for any one to lose sleep over. The West is playing with a weak hand and knows it.
I disagree. Russia will be hurt severely by the economic sanctions that will ratchet up if they persist.
Russia can only win a simple hand. They have little in the way of chips. Over the long term, they lose financially and lose credibility as a respected nation.
Well I figure there are varied threads in this tapestry Putin and Obama are weaving now, along with the EU/Nato.
Not to mention the Presidential Candidates now surfacing....who will acquire support from all interested parties and nations outside Ukraine, that we can be sure.
I think if advances further the most will be snatching the Eastern strip of Ukraine,..and perhaps Trans...as he wants a buffer Zone .....understandable he would desire this as Ukraine is on the map for joining EU/Nato way down the road.
He’ll settle however for Crimea I think, if push comes to shove.
There was an Intelligence speaker talking today who said should Putin move inland much of it will be for show...there will be some fighting but most of what will be televised and via media will be just that...show.
Just as the media has been dancing to the tunes played by all concerned...they will do so with any advance Putin makes into Ukraine.
When the US went into Iraq I was so livid with how the media made our soldiers look. ...and they were biased toward IRaq more than supporting our troops. CNN was actually kicked out for false reporting and even more than that.
I hope this can be settled without Putin going further....but all this reporting of Putin calling Obama or Obama calling Putin...is for the media and consumer consumption IMO. The truth is is the middle of both sides and wobbles between them.