https://freerepublic.com/tag/gasblunder/ en-us Thu, 12 Jan 2006 15:57:12 GMT Focus Forum 15 https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1556727/posts The abortive interruption of Russian natural gas supplies to Ukraine on January 1 was a humiliating diplomatic blunder. It was an unnecessary crisis, and one that Russia clumsily lost in the court of world public opinion. While Ukraine was threatened with a gas blockade, Russia was voluntarily submitting itself to a two-week information blockade. The entire country was given a holiday from January 1 to 10, with even the newspapers shuttered. The political class fled to their holidays in the sun, and none of the usual Kremlin spin-doctors were deployed to staunch the flood of Western criticism. The Russian case... Center for Defense Information https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1556727/posts#comment Thu, 12 Jan 2006 15:57:12 GMT