[Straight Vermonter]

Right now Putin is backpedaling... so clearly the intended invasion of East Ukraine was a miscalculation on his part. He may still regroup and invade, but he already lost the momentum.

I think that if he were going to invade eastern Ukraine he would have done it by now. If you are going to do unpopular acts do them all at once and get it done. There is little to be gained by waiting.

[annalex]

Yes. Not only that, but also Ukraine got time to get a bit organized. Putin chickened out, for the time being. One possible factor is that Obama talked to him from Er-Riadh something about oil going at $50 a barrel. That might have gotten his attention.