Posted on 03/02/2014 5:26:16 PM PST by SkyPilot
The Obama administration on Sunday worked to isolate Russia on the world stage even as its president, Vladimir Putin, showed no signs of rolling back his military intervention in Ukraine.
President Obama spoke by phone with leaders from Great Britain, Germany and Poland, and he dispatched Secretary of State to Kiev on Tuesday for a show of solidarity with the new Ukrainian government.
After suspending preparations for an upcoming Group of 8 summit in Sochi, the administration began canceling lower-level diplomatic and economic meetings with Russian counterparts. And senior administration officials warned that Russia could be booted from the G8 altogether and that its economy would suffer because of Putin’s decision to occupy the Crimean peninsula following the ouster last week of Ukraine’s pro-Russia president, Viktor Yakunovych.
The strategy, described in a briefing senior administration officials on the condition of anonymity, was aimed at demonstrating to Putin that his intervention in Crimea would not go unpunished while also offering him “an offramp” if he chose to reverse course.
“It is Russia’s choice to behave in this manner,” one senior administration said, or whether it wants to return “to the community of civilized nations.”
Yet it was unclear Sunday if Putin cared or was even listening to the condemnation of Obama and U.S. allies. He sought and received authorization from the Russian parliament for military force just hours after Obama warned him to stay out of Ukraine, and administration officials acknowledged that Russia had reinforced its military position over the weekend.
The administration officials said more than 6,000 Russian troops in Ukraine and that its forces now had “completely operational control of Crimea.” The U.S. has seen evidence of unrest and “ethnic skirmishes” in eastern Ukraine, an official said...
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
WINNER. Post of the day.
Georgia had their own energy and nothing Russian.
Crimea has a ton of Russian people who prefer Russia to Ukraine. About 15,000 Russian troops.
Georgia just has Georgians. And they all speak Georgian.
Yes, exactly.
Wouldn’t it be ironic that Putin offers to invade America to remove Obama and restore a free country?
And you know what?
I would accept his offer.
“I will stand with the Russians should the political winds shift in an ugly direction”
I trust Putin more than I could ever trust Obama. Putin is doing what he thinks is necessary to protect his country. Obama is doing the opposite.
I can’t believe the media carries water for Obama like this. If the world’s nations have to be forced not to trade with the likes of Iran, North Korea, and other undesirables, but they still sneak around the edges defying those restrictions, then how much attention will they pay to someone asking them not to deal with a major Oil & NG provider with the biggest military in their entire area?
Unfortunately for Obama, Putin is concerned about Russian interests, not getting a good review in the New York Times.
And Russia has an agreement with Ukraine, that they may protect the infrastructure. This go round Russia is not doing the killing. So far.
Probably Putin laughs and says, “The US is not a country anymore. It is just big travel voucher for the Obamas’ vacations.”
Good grief. The administration is insane.
LOL - unfortunately too close to the truth.
We can’t have Russia disrupting scheduled golf games.
I doubt any of those world leaders trust Obama. They know he’ll back down after they stick their necks out.
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