President Vladimir Putin addressed his nation on Friday describing Russia’s takeover of Crimea as demonstrating Russia is back and the Russian flag is now flying over all military sites on the Black Sea peninsula. Putin addressed the nation saying … “The recent events in Crimea were a serious test…” and that the Russian military “demonstrated both the completely new capabilities of our Armed Forces and the high morale of the personnel.”
Putin has reserved the right to send troops into Ukraine, which is home to a large population of Russian-speakers in the east to protect Russians. He also praised the Russian troops for “avoiding bloodshed” in Crimea.
Putin has received permission from the Russian parliament to send the armed forces into Ukraine if necessary, raising concerns he could cite alleged threats to Russian-speakers in eastern regions as grounds for intervention there.
The US has been dangerously trying to surround Russia with nukes for the last decade. That violated the promises made back in 1991 that NATO would not attempt to move in. This has in many ways provoked Putin and has set the stage for his rising popularity. This is the same type of response the American people had for Reagan and the British displayed toward Margaret Thatcher with the Falklands War. When a nation has suffered a decline in power and respect, this is the standard response that can be expected. The West has not understood what it is doing and nobody seems to be even capable to articulating precisely WHY Russia is even an enemy when communism has collapsed. This is not 1945.
