Russia's fantasy world
Why he finds it in Russia's interest to isolate itself to recognize a pipsqueak of an entity like South Ossetia is unclear. He statements about US humanitarian aid being arms is unsupported by anything other than an active imagination.Russia's relations with the west plunged to their most critical point in a generation yesterday when the Kremlin built on its military rout of Georgia by recognising the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.
Declaring that if his decision meant a new cold war, then so be it, President Dmitri Medvedev signed a decree conferring Russian recognition on Georgia's two secessionist regions. The move flouted UN security council resolutions and dismissed western insistence during the crisis of the past three weeks on respecting Georgia's territorial integrity and international borders.
Last night, Medvedev accused Washington of shipping arms to Georgia under the guise of humanitarian aid.
The Kremlin's unilateral decision to redraw the map of the strategically vital region on the Black Sea surprised and alarmed the west, and raised the stakes in the Caucasus crisis. Moscow challenged Europe and the US to respond, while calculating that western divisions over policy towards Russia would dilute any damage.
Washington condemned the move. Britain called for a European coalition against Russian "aggression". Sweden said Russia had opted for a path of confrontation with the west, and international organisations denounced Medvedev's move as illegitimate and unacceptable.
"We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a new cold war," Medvedev said. "Russia is a state which has to ensure its interests along the whole length of its border. This is absolutely clear."
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The US does not need another cold war to punish Russia for this bad conduct. What the US should do is increase the missile defense system in Europe and elsewhere and arm the states around Russia with defensive weapons that can defeat its aircraft and tanks.
Russia has already received the "punishment" the long frozen conflict in Georgia and the Games in Sotshi will have an impact on Russian economy, as more resources are needed, money etc. The inflation rate in Russia is still high. And the gas and oil will not help for long terms. Of course, Russia is one of the biggest weapon exporters, but anyway...
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