Putin Fires Back and Pro-Western Critics

by John M. Curtis
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Copyright May 24, 2014
All Rights Reserved.                                     

            Since invading Crimea March 1, 61-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin has been so demonized by the West that he’s finally taken off the gloves and fired back.  When the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, compared Putin’s moves in Ukraine to Hitler in the 1930s May 22, the former KGB officer finally had enough.  “I would not like to think this is the start of a new Cold War.  It is in no one’s interest and I think it will not happen,” Putin told Reuters, rejecting claims in the U.S. that he seeks to reinstate the former Soviet Union.  Holding his own economic summit in St. Petersburg, now that he’s been evicted from the G7, Putin vowed to not let Western sanctions sink the Russian economy, now teetering on recession.  Putin seeks a new trading block with Kazakhstan, Belarus and other former satellites, all part of the once powerful Soviet Union before it disbanded in 1991.

             Putin fired back about the unlawful Feb. 22 Western-backed coup that toppled the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovich, driving the Ukraine into civil war.  “They try to stick this label on use—a label that we are trying to restore an empire, the Soviet Union, make everyone subordinates.  This absolutely does not correspond to reality,” said Putin, rejecting White House and Capitol Hill claims that Putin’s Russian Federation seeks to dominate the region.  White House officials accuse Putin of meddling in Ukrainian politics, backing pro-separatist groups, causing much of the unrest that Putin views as a civil war.  Firing back at his critics, Putin said the U.S. and European Union backed the Ukrainian coup that threw the country into chaos and civil war.  U.S. and EU officials contend that Putin seeks to dominate the region, including countries like Moldova that lean more toward the EU.

             After five years in office, 52-year-old President Barack Obama hasn’t mastered East-West relations, often criticizing Putin’s actions in Ukraine, while not paying attention to U.S. moves in Afghanistan and Iraq.  “Who made him a judge?” asked Putin about Obama, who’s criticized Putin for backing pro-separatists in Ukraine.  Putin reminded his critics that Russian didn’t start the Feb. 22 coup that threw the region into anarchy, exposing deep divisions between Western and Eastern Ukraine.  Putin rejected attempts by Obama to isolate Russia for its actions in Ukraine.  While Obama accuses Putin of meddling in Eastern Ukraine, Putin points out that it was the U.S. and EU-backed coup that opened up the hornet’s nest.  U.S. and EU officials need to find common ground with Putin, not continue to antagonize relations by voting for more harsh economic and travel sanctions.

             Russian, like the U.S. and EU, has every right to try to influence elections in former Soviet republics, currently trying to figure out which direction to take in a post-Soviet Union atmosphere.  Putin told pro-separatist forces in Eastern Ukraine that the Russian Federation would back Ukraine’s duly elected government, not try to annex more Ukrainian territory.  Russian-speaking populations in Eastern Ukraine would like the Russian Federation to rescue their dismal economy.  Putin put pro-Russian separatists on notice May 7 to hold off on separatist votes, knowing the Kremlin would not back taking any more Ukrainian territory.  With Western economic sanctions taking their toll on Moscow, Putin thought twice before offering to annex more Ukrainian territory.  He also reflected back on the costs to the former Soviet Union of subsidizing satellite states before backing separatist votes.

             Before Putin annexed Crimea March 1, U.S.-Russian relations had already sunk to post-Cold War low.  Acting to protect Russian interests in Crimea, including Russia’s Black Sea naval base in Sevastopol, Putin didn’t trust Ukraine’s anti-Russian rulers from meeting commitments and treaty obligations.  Seizing Crimea reflected the will of pro-Russian speakers looking for a way out of Ukraine’s disastrous economy, owing billions to Moscow for energy purchases.  When Yanukovich accepted Putin’s $16 billion bailout Nov. 30, 2013, the Western-backed protest movement went rabid, culminating in the Feb. 22 coup.  Even if Ukraine’s 48-year-old chocolate baron Petro Poroshenko wins tomorrow’s election, he’s still faced with rebuilding an economy buried in debt, currently in shambles.  When he looks East or West, he’ll find no quick-fix to Ukraine’s economic nightmare. 

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.