Masha Gessen is spot on:
Vladimir Putin should not have been in Normandy, or anywhere where he might be treated like a legitimate world leader — but French President François Hollande invited him, and other Western leaders lacked either the desire or the leverage to object effectively. Putin’s presence at the D-Day festivities served to legitimize him and delegitimize the occasion.
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Monday, 9 June 2014
Sunday, 8 June 2014
The "leaders" of the Free World welcome Vladmir Putin back to the table
Once again Vladimir Putin, the thug masquerading as a president, has made a mockery of the "leaders" of the Free World. Obama, Hollande, Merkel, Cameron and the rest are nothing but a bunch of weaklings, who do not have the guts to seriously challenge Putin's aggression. It was clear from the beginning that the tough talk was nothing but a smokescreen:
It has taken Russia less than three months since its invasion of Ukraine to find its way back to the table with U.S. and European leaders
Most of Russia’s state media led with the news of the conversation, signaling how eager the Kremlin’s image-makers have grown to cast Putin as a welcome guest among his Western counterparts. --
That condemnation has now eased off of demands for Russia to return the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine, calling instead for Putin to “de-escalate” the ongoing conflict by reining in pro-Russian militants fighting to break away more of Ukraine. The West is now watching for Putin to recognize the legitimacy of his Ukrainian counterpart, and Moscow has signaled its willingness to do that after Poroshenko’s inauguration on Saturday. It would then be a matter of time before Kiev and Moscow come to the negotiating table to resolve their differences, giving Putin a chance to make amends with the West just a few months after invading his neighbor. Considering the price he would have paid in diplomatic isolation, the conquest of a peninsula with two million inhabitants would then start to look like a very good gamble indeed.
Read the entire Time Magazine article here
It has taken Russia less than three months since its invasion of Ukraine to find its way back to the table with U.S. and European leaders
Most of Russia’s state media led with the news of the conversation, signaling how eager the Kremlin’s image-makers have grown to cast Putin as a welcome guest among his Western counterparts. --
That condemnation has now eased off of demands for Russia to return the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine, calling instead for Putin to “de-escalate” the ongoing conflict by reining in pro-Russian militants fighting to break away more of Ukraine. The West is now watching for Putin to recognize the legitimacy of his Ukrainian counterpart, and Moscow has signaled its willingness to do that after Poroshenko’s inauguration on Saturday. It would then be a matter of time before Kiev and Moscow come to the negotiating table to resolve their differences, giving Putin a chance to make amends with the West just a few months after invading his neighbor. Considering the price he would have paid in diplomatic isolation, the conquest of a peninsula with two million inhabitants would then start to look like a very good gamble indeed.
Read the entire Time Magazine article here