Has Putin threatened anyone? When the Ukraine govt. fell. Russia moved to protect her economic interests in the Crimea. That’s the only offensive move I have seen. Our “leaders” seem to be milking this for everything they can get, and there is nothing there. Like you said, pure theater.
Putin has not threatened anyone who hasn't threatened Russia's legitimate security interests. I agree that Putin's annexation of Crimea was a defensive move -- but not just to protect Russia's economic interests there. Crimea, with its long-establish Russian naval and air bases, is absolutely vital to Russia's strategic defense of the Black Sea and its own southern borders. Decades of Cold War against a Soviet Union that no longer exists have made us creatures of habit and blinded us from the existence of the real threat to freedom that now sits in Brussels. It is the European Union and its military arm, NATO, which is now on the march and basing its troops, planes and ships along Russia's borders. The world has changed, but we are distracted from seeing it.