The West is blinking in disbelief – Vladimir Putin just invaded Ukraine. German diplomats, French Eurocrats and American pundits are all stunned. Why has Russia chosen to gamble its trillion-dollar ties with the West?
Western leaders are stunned because they haven’t realized Russia’s owners no longer respect Europeans the way they once did after the Cold War. Russia thinks the West is no longer a crusading alliance. Russia thinks the West is now all about the money
Putin’s henchmen know this personally. Russia’s rulers have been buying up Europe for years. They have mansions and luxury flats from London’s West End to France’s Cote d’Azure. Their children are safe at British boarding and Swiss finishing schools. And their money is squirrelled away in Austrian banks and British tax havens.
[url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/03/russia-vladimir-putin-the-west-104134.html#.UxM6N86aSiU]RUSSIA
John Kerry the US secretary of state has condemned the Russian invasion of Crimea and has decided to take strong action against Russia .
He will send a strongly worded E mail to Putin as punishment ... Here take that Putin ,
[quote author=The Chairman link=topic=88055.msg552198#msg552198 date=1393769088]
The West is blinking in disbelief – Vladimir Putin just invaded Ukraine. German diplomats, French Eurocrats and American pundits are all stunned. Why has Russia chosen to gamble its trillion-dollar ties with the West?
Western leaders are stunned because they haven’t realized Russia’s owners no longer respect Europeans the way they once did after the Cold War. Russia thinks the West is no longer a crusading alliance. Russia thinks the West is now all about the money
[/quote]
I don't know that Russia ever 'feared' the west though... It was always a sigificant power in the east, a sleeping Bear is still a Bear
