Last weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly told European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, “If I want to, I can take Kiev in two weeks.”
It might be the first truthful statement Putin has made in months.
At this point, there is almost no doubt that Russia is actively pursuing a military conflict with Ukraine. According to NATO, there are now well over 1,000 Russian troops armed with heavy artillery operating inside the country, with an additional 20,000 troops stationed close to the Ukrainian border.
The military escalation has caught many, notably NATO, by surprise but there have been a few signs this was coming.
In 2011, Putin published a major policy article in a Russian newspaper that outlined his long-term strategy to build a Eurasian super-state within the boundaries of the former Soviet Union, called the Eurasian Union. Putin ...
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