Pushing the red lines

It seems that US President Barack Obama is running out of ideas on how to vilify Russian President Vladimir Putin or punish him for “grabbing” Crimea a few weeks ago.

At the recent Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague, Obama described Russia as only a regional power, no more and no less.

The Russian leader took this as a grave insult that wounds Russian pride and cannot be allowed to go unnoticed.

Putin responded quickly, proclaiming that Russia is, has been and will always be a global power.

He wants to relive the grandeur of old imperial Russia at all cost, and is not amused by others making fun of its might.

Russia has many nuclear weapons, the means to deliver them to the far reaches of the globe, a huge armada sailing seas and oceans and a mighty air force. It also offers US astronauts the means to reach spaceships.

Obama was perhaps thinking more of the Russian economy which he must have felt is not up to standard and is heavily dependent and focused on energy related industries, and that’s about all.

Obama tried the economic weapon against Moscow by adopting a series of peripheral economic and financial sanctions against select Russian targets, which may end up proving to be too little or too trivial to be able to twist Putin’s arm.

At the just-concluded nuclear summit, the US president denied that the West is still divided on the extent it is willing to go against Russia.

Most EU nations, notably Germany, are heavily dependent not only on Russian gas for their energy needs but also on Russian business and trade.

So while Obama demonised Putin’s plans to sow division among EU nations in the aftermath of the Crimean annexation, there is no denying that EU is really divided over the takeover, with the majority leaning in favour of more stringent sanctions only if Moscow goes any further in its designs on Ukraine.

In other words, Washington and the European capitals seem willing to let bygones be bygones provided Moscow does not go any further.

Putin got used to hear Obama saying things he does not mean.

Obama drew red lines that ended up being hollow threats, so Putin may be tempted to test Obama’s resolve on major geopolitical pursuits.