[elhombrelibre]

Agree. Russia is bothering Ukraine for basically one reason. That is because Putin decided to do so. If tomorrow he decides not to do so, the who affair will end. He's there because his hand picked man - Viktor Yanukovych - made a couple of mistakes. He went against Putin and negotiated an agreement with the EU. Then, Yanukovych accepted Putin's veto. Then Yanukovych brutalized Ukranian protesters. Next, Yanukovych ordered the protesters shot by snipers - probably on Putin's orders. The whole nation threw the bum out. They freed the political prisoners and exposed his vast wealth, like the wealth the crony capitalists associated with Putin have in Russia; it's tacky but it's wealth.

Putin then decided to snatch parts of Ukraine so he could play the "I'm a strong man card." This crisis is a wholly owned Putin production.

[tcrlaf]

“Russia is bothering Ukraine for basically one reason. That is because Putin decided to do so.”

So, all those months of civil unrest are just in our imaginations???

[Elsie]

They freed the political prisoners and exposed his vast wealth, like the wealth the crony capitalists associated with Putin have in Russia; it's tacky but it's wealth.

Which would have gone unnoticed had he NOT spent so much time at Key Largo, Martha's Vineyard, Hawaii...