Putin Desperately Needs His Wings Clipped

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 29, 2014
All Rights Reserved.                                     

              Speaking at a pro-Kremlin youth camp, 61-tear-old Russian President Vladimir Putin paraphrased a line from former President George W. Bush, telling the West “it’s best not to mess with us.”  Bush routinely roused Texas audiences during the 2000 presidential campaign against Democrat VP Al Gore telling folks, “don’t mess with Texas.”  Put in context, Gore routinely bashed Texas for having some of the worst educational and social services in the country.  Putin’s remarks ratchet up the Cold War rhetoric, boasting about Russia’s nuclear arsenal.  After seizing Crimea and fomenting unrest in Eastern Ukraine, Putin’s endured the indignity of Western economic and travel sanctions.  Putin blames the West for the chaos in Ukraine after anti-Kremlin demonstrators drove duly elected Russian-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich from power Feb. 22.

             Putin resented the timing of the coup while he watched helplessly hosting the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.  Without toppling Yanukovich, Putin thinks Ukraine would be in the right hands, not experiencing the unrest witnessed today. Telling President Barack Obama on telephone March 4 that she thought Putin was “in another world” or out-of-touch-with-reality, 60-year-old German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised disturbing issues about the Russian president.  After seizing Crimea from the Ukraine March 1, Putin doesn’t fathom the world’s concern about Russia arbitrarily violating international law seizing sovereign land.  However unhappy he was with what happened in Kiev Feb. 22 toppling Yanukovich, Putin’s been on a terror ever since.  Putin told pro-Kremlin youth that he seized Crimea to protect Russian-speaking folks, worried about persecution by Kiev’s new government.

             Approving new economic and travel sanctions July 31, the EU reluctantly put down the hammer to protest Putn’s moves in Crimea and sponsoring unrest in Eastern Ukraine.  “Russia is far from being involved in any large-scale conflicts,” Putin said to the youth conference on the banks of Lake Seliger.  “We don’t want that and don’t plan on it.  But naturally, we should always be ready to repel any aggression towards Russia,” said Putin, referring to current military actions ordered by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to reclaim lost territory in Eastern Ukraine. If Merkel’s right about Putin, he’s too paranoid, suspicious and distrusting to partner with any Western country. Losing his otherwise close relationship with Merkel shows just how far Putin has gone from seeing the big picture.  Alienating the U.S. and EU turns back the clock on Russia’s economic progress after the Cold War.

             Putin hoped that the EU’s dependence on Russia’s natural gas and petroleum—especially in Germany—would discourage Merkel from joining Obama and other Western nations’ sanctions.  Now that Germany joined in, Putin has become even more entrenched in his positions.  “Russia’s partners . . . should understand it’s best  not to mess with us,” said Putin, clearly not getting the message about violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity.  Newly released satellite reconnaissance photos show Russian troops and heavy military equipment inside Ukraine, not, as Putin insists, outside Ukriane’s borders.  “Thank God, I think no one is thinking of unleashing a large-scale conflict with Russia.  I want to remind you that Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers,” Putin told the youth conference.  Raising the use of nuclear weapons harks back to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

             Either Putin’s in a time-warp or his paranoia has gotten the better of him.  Instead of worrying about the West, the West worries about Putin’s next move or how far will he push East-West relations to the brink.  Putin expressed openly his contempt for whatever forces toppled Yanukovich, prompting him the annex Crimea.  Whatever happened in Kiev Feb. 22, Putin doesn’t acknowledge Ukrainian dissent over Yanukovich’s decision in Nov. 26, 2013 to reject a EU debt and restructuring plan.  When Yanukovich accepted $16 billion Russian bailout, anti-Russian protestors practically burnt down Kiev.  Without saying it directly, Putin believes the CIA played a decisive role in fomenting street protests and driving Yanukovich from Kiev while he sat helplessly hosting the Sochi games.  Backing Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine, Putin believes he’s protecting endangered Russian speakers. 

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.