WSJ: Putin dispelled the myth of a weak Russia and made the West live by its own rules that Russia is not a weak state on which it is possible to impose someone else's opinion. During his tenure in power, President Vladimir Putin dispelled this myth and forced the West to live by its own rules, writes The Wall Street Journal.
Contributors Eugene Rumer and Andrew S. Weiss ) note that the Russian leader has modernized the army, improved the conditions of international energy trade, surrounded Russia with a ring of friendly countries and sent NATO a signal that he expects him to abandon the policy of expansion to the East.
self-serving Western narratives about Russia as a dying power and any lingering skepticism about its ability to take its rightful place on the world stage, “say the journalists.
They also believe that the increased cooperation between NATO and Kiev has led that Moscow began to perceive Ukraine as “something like a NATO aircraft carrier docked on the border with Russia.” Analysts recalled that in 2007, Western leaders did not take seriously Putin's demands, voiced at the Munich Security Conference, and promised Ukraine and Georgia membership in the North Atlantic Alliance. However, less than a year later, Georgia attacked South Ossetia.
Earlier, The New York Times, citing American and European officials, reported that US intelligence issued a warning that there was little time left to prevent Russia to invade the territory of Ukraine. According to the media, the American intelligence community is confident that everything is ready for an attack and that it can happen soon enough. At the same time, they believe that Moscow has not yet decided what exactly to do with the troops gathered at the border.