.... But would an incident lead to war with the feckless and weak Obama on the way out of office? Probably not...
Yes, right out of the ancient “Art of War” book.
My guess is that Putin is confident that Obama is all posture and empty talk and won’t respond to any provocation, especially since he can drop the mess in his successor’s lap. Putin therefore has a parting “gift” for Obama that might occur right after the election.