A lot of wishful thinking going on in the West these days about Russia.
Even if there is some economic downturn in Russia, what happened in Crimea will not be reversed. Also over the long term given its vast resources, the economic outlook is better for the average Russian than the average Frenchman, Italian Spaniard and possibly Briton.
It's nothing but a load of Putin бык дерьмо!!
What cost? Cheapest land grab, with access to a warm-water port, the Russians could have ever claimed. So they did a little chicanery to gain effective political control of the Crimea, is that different than what goes on in a lot of elections right here in the US, where Chicago hijacks the rest of Illinois?? Or Seattle hijacks the rest of the state of Washington?? Or LA and San Francisco hijack the rest of California??
Ineligible voters, fraudulent vote counts, physical occupation of the premises when the votes seem to be going against the True Way, including intimidation of the duly elected representatives already in place??
Nothing to see here, folks, just doing business, doncha know.
Russia controls a lot of energy, but the USA controls the worlds’ financial system. It will be an interesting stand-off.
Russia’s GDP is only twice what we spend on the worthless federal Department of Education and we have twice their population.
For all those who listen to too much MSM about Russia is getting ready to invade the Ukraine. I’m still chuckling. They probably broke the bank bringing troops to the border although NBC sent a news crew over there and couldn’t find any. :-)
Remember AFP is socialist France and in this instance is unable to distinguish cost from investment.
Crimea is not an expense but a capital assset
Ban the importation of Russian vodka. The Russian producers probably have as much influence with Putin as any business sector.