‘Challenging policies’

Russian President Vladimir Putin is having a field day, not only in Ukraine but also elsewhere in the world, including Syria.

Putin is calling all the shots in the Ukraine conflict, having sensed that US President Barack Obama is faithfully committed to his grand policy of “disengagement” from international and regional conflicts after the huge cost of involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Russian leader tested Obama’s resolve over the Syrian conflict and was assured that the US president does not want to have his fingers burned over any conflict not directly related to his country.

No wonder Russian troops, estimated to be well over 40,000, are still deployed along the eastern borders of Ukraine, and Russia has not lived up to the accord struck at the Geneva conference by the US, EU and Ukraine foreign ministers, which called for the de-escalation of tension in eastern Ukraine.

Having swallowed up Crimea with impunity, Moscow must have come to the conclusion that it can get away with murder in dealing with the US and other Western capitals.

Russian protestations that its forces encircling Ukraine seek only to protect the life of Russian-speaking Ukrainians do not convince neutral observers.

Such claims ring hollow in the face of Russian diplomatic and military support for Damascus in its gruelling war against its own people, even before the conflict became a free and for all combat area for radicals and extremists.

Obama is counting on his country’s financial and economic muscle to sway Moscow from continuing its current course in defiance of international rule.

Putin, however, does not seem to be impressed by the US sanctions and is determined to continue his acts of defiance of the West.

So far, Putin has the upper hand. Moscow senses that the Western capitals are rather divided over Ukraine, with some having no wish to escalate tensions with Russia, given Europe’s dependence on Russian oil for its energy needs, over and above the fact that much trade and commerce is still going on beween Europe and Russia.

The future will tell, however, to what extent Moscow can continue its current challenging policies.