[marron]

Delusional.

He has nothing to lose by keeping Crimea, and nothing to gain by giving it up.

He’s keeping it.

[null and void]

Agreed. Russia must have and will have Crimea. They have an overwhelming need for a warm water year round naval port.

Our job is to make acquiring Crimea so expensive that they will be discouraged from further expansion.

[Buckeye McFrog]

A warm water port is of great strategic importance to Russia.

If he were to give that up his own people would likely turn on him.

[Vigilanteman]

The only paragraph in the whole article which actually made sense:

And what about the upside for Putin? There doesn’t seem to be much of it, at least not compared with the damage he stands to inflict on Russia and himself. But he does look set to accomplish a few things. For one, he demonstrates to the world that his redlines, unlike those of the White House, cannot be crossed.

[VRWCarea51]

The Russians are in full Retreat!