Putin’s Obsession to Reunite the USSR Can Destroy Russia
Russia
and Ukraine inched closer to all-out war Saturday, with Ukraine
threatening to blockade the eastern city of Slovyansk, which is now
under the control of pro-Russia activists. The Pentagon also confirmed
that Russian war planes made numerous incursions into Ukrainian air
space, while foreign…
Putin’s Obsession to Reunite the USSR Can Destroy Russia
By David Francis
18 hours ago
Russia and Ukraine inched closer to all-out war Saturday, with Ukraine threatening to blockade
the eastern city of Slovyansk, which is now under the control of
pro-Russia activists. The Pentagon also confirmed that Russian war
planes made numerous incursions
into Ukrainian air space, while foreign military observers from the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), along with
their Ukrainian hosts, were imprisoned in Slovyansk.
GOP Critics Grow LouderObama’s refusal to commit troops to Ukraine has led to criticisms of weakness from many Republicans. When State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki tweeted, “The world stands #UnitedforUkraine. Let’s hope that the #Kremlin & @mfa Russia will live by the promise of hashtag,” Sen. Ted Cruz blasted the Obama administration.
Related: How Europe Could Finally Call Putin’s Bluff
“Note to the State Department: ‘The promise of a hashtag’ isn't going to make [Russian President] Putin pull out of Ukraine,” Cruz tweeted Saturday.
The maneuvers by
Russian troops along the Ukrainian border and Russia’s continued
aggression toward the country prompted the G-7 to announce new sanctions
against Russia last week.
“We
have now agreed that we will move swiftly to impose additional
sanctions on Russia," the G7 leaders said in a statement released by the
White House Friday.
“Given the urgency of securing the opportunity for a successful and
peaceful democratic vote next month in Ukraine's presidential elections,
we have committed to act urgently to intensify targeted sanctions and
measures to increase the costs of Russia's actions.”
It remains
to be seen, though, if the new sanctions, which could target the energy
sector and cause pain to the Russian economy, would be enough to stop
Russian President Vladimir Putin. So far, in the face of steep losses to
the ruble and the Russian stock market, he has yet to blink.
If
anything, he’s been more defiant of the West as the Ukraine crisis
evolves. When Russian troops invaded Crimea, he was at least willing to
engage with the West. Now, he’s simply ignoring international deals and
is letting his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, take the lead in dealing
with Europe and the United States.
Perhaps
Putin’s besting of the United States vis-a-vis other international
incidents, such as with Edward Snowden’s spy revelations and with the
Syrian civil war, have emboldened the one-time KGB agent. The deadline
for Bashar al-Assad to get rid of his chemical weapons stockpiles is
today, and it appears as if he will meet that. But as Assad gives up his
sophisticated chemical arms, there are new reports that bombs filled
with chlorine - a rudimentary chemical weapon - are being dropped from Assad’s helicopters and airplanes.
White House Gives UpThe White House has “written off” dealing with Putin directly, a Newsweek report claims, with an administration official saying there’s “no point in trying to reach him directly.”
That
suggests that the White House’s strategy is to try to bankrupt Russia
through economic sanctions and to freeze the assets of the oligarchs who
back Putin. But that process will take time, and the speed with which
Putin has mobilized against Ukraine suggests that the country could be
his before sanctions cause enough damage to deter him.
The Obama administration has already taken the use of force off the table.
Putin knows that he could roll tanks across Ukraine’s border this
evening and that the United States and its NATO allies would not act to
stop it. That would lead to a proxy war between the West and Russia,
with the Ukrainian military receiving supplies from NATO.GOP Critics Grow LouderObama’s refusal to commit troops to Ukraine has led to criticisms of weakness from many Republicans. When State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki tweeted, “The world stands #UnitedforUkraine. Let’s hope that the #Kremlin & @mfa Russia will live by the promise of hashtag,” Sen. Ted Cruz blasted the Obama administration.
Related: How Europe Could Finally Call Putin’s Bluff
“Note to the State Department: ‘The promise of a hashtag’ isn't going to make [Russian President] Putin pull out of Ukraine,” Cruz tweeted Saturday.
John
McCain, John Barrasso, John Hoeven and Ron Johnson leveled the same
criticism. The Republican senators recently traveled to Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania and Moldova, all former Soviet bloc states that fear invasion
by Russia. The senators criticized the president for showing weakness
toward Putin and accused Obama of emboldening the Russian president.
They also urged the United States and NATO to completely cut all
relations with Moscow.
“Putin
will not compromise his quest to dominate Russia’s sovereign neighbors
(not least as a cynical way to build support at home for his corrupt and
autocratic rule),” the lawmakers wrote in The Washington Post. “He
may play along with Western diplomats eager to avoid conflict, as
happened recently in Geneva, but only as a way to consolidate his gains,
divide the United States and Europe, play for time and prepare to push
further.”
They also wrote:
“Western weakness emboldens Putin. The only thing he respects, and that
can change his calculus, is greater strength.”
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