Putin is a mischief maker and an opportunist. He’s not much for the long hard slog and that’s what trying to annex the Ukraine will be. Putey is already trying to back out of the swamp but this convoy ambush is really making it difficult. He has really stepped in doody and he’s not sure how to get out of it.
“Putin is a mischief maker and an opportunist”
Absolutely...
And Obama handed him the opportunity of a lifetime when they supported the overthrow of the elected Ukraine Gov, giving him an excuse to recover Crimea. The Obamunists never considered how Putin might react to it, that much is very clear.
“He’s not much for the long hard slog and that’s what trying to annex the Ukraine will be.”
IMO, He doesn’t want anything to do with swallowing Ukraine. It’s a basket case, both Socially and economically. If he wanted it, this would already have been over in a day.
He will take the Southeast if he can get it, most of Ukraine’s wealth is there, along with a significant percentage of Russia’s war industries. It also offers a land route for much of the South Stream Project, (that the Saudi’s and Obama are trying desperately to stop), making it much cheaper to build.
IMO, Ukraine will eventually balkanize along ethnic lines. Maybe sooner than we think.
“but this convoy ambush is really making it difficult”
As noted by CNN, and posted above, there is no proof to back up this claim by Kiev:
CNN’s Ram Ramgogal
US says it can’t confirm Ukrainian claims of disabling vehicles in a Russian military convoy inside Ukraine
https://twitter.com/RamCNN/status/500412757259591682