First, Russian troops enter the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine. Then they take the ports, airports, and Ukrainian military bases. While President Obama watches from behind, critics are characterizing the two by saying Putin is playing chess and Obama is playing marbles.
On Putin’s taking of Crimea, President Obama says that’s not what is done in the 21st century (Mr. President. He just did it.), and he is going to impose sanctions on Russia. Well, not exactly on Russia. But on 7 Russians and 4 Ukrainians known to have played a role in the takeover and the massacre in Kiev. By ostensibly seizing their assets and not allowing them to travel to the United States.
Amused by Obama’s naiveté, President Putin reciprocates and bans Sen. McCain and Rep Boehner from traveling to Russia. And just today, the man who said ‘if you bring a knife to a fight, I’ll bring a gun’ upped the ante and expanded his banned list to 31 people. President Obama called that placing “additional costs” on Russia. Meanwhile, Putin is placing Russian troops along Ukraine’s border.
Any way you slice this, Crimea is lost to Russia. Actually, that is a loss for Russia but not Putin. The Russian people don’t want and have no use for Crimea. They are the poorest of the poor people in Ukraine, and the Russian people don’t want them just because of that. Putin wants the territory, and Putin gets what he wants. No one is sending in troops to push them out like what Bush did in Kuwait to Saddam Hussein. That just ins’t going to happen.
Besides, two years into his second term is no time to develop a foreign policy on Russia and Vladimir Putin.
Link: Obama expands sanctions on Russians over Crimea annexation
