Commentary: West Should Work With, Not Against, Russia In Handling Ukraine Crisis

[amandabeech]

40. Russia has a lease until 2042 on bases in Crimea.

The new interim government in Ukraine was doing absolutely nothing to interfere with Russia's use of those bases. For everything that Putin has been saying he has not said that Ukraine was blockading the naval bases or the accompanying army and air force bases. All was continuing as normal.

All Russia had to do was continue to use those bases normally under the existing leases. But what did Putin do? He's blockaded Ukrainian military bases and sent "unmarked" troops to occupy much of Crimea, although he claims that those troops aren't his. He is the aggressor here.

Putin is building a new naval base to the east on Russia's black sea coast at Novorossik (sp). The base is behind schedule, perhaps because Putin spent so much money on Socchi and not on a more important project.

Putin seems to have panicked when the Ukrainian president that he controlled was thrown out and then fled the country to be replaced by an interim government which did nothing to Russia or Putin. It seems that Putin is a complete control freak who doesn't understand how to play nicely with people who are not afraid of him. If he'd had my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ostensacken, he either would have been asked to go home and grow up a little before attending kindergarten or he would have been held back. Somewhere in Russia there is probably a teacher who regrets her decision to pass this little guy on to the next grade considering his immature behavior.