Lavrov says Ukraine must agree with rebels if it wants control over its border with Russia in separatist-held areas.
A generous dollop of incredulity via Twitter based on Lavrov's latest remarks on Ukraine:
A strident Putin critic, Hermitage Capital Management founder Bill Browder, warned in Institutional Investor on Tuesday that "Putin will never back down," adding that "we should start preparing ourselves for a war in Europe." Browder was whistle-blowing Kremlin gadfly Sergei Magnitsky's employer before Magnitsky, a lawyer, was gunned down in broad daylight in the Russian capital:
Putin has never dealt with economic chaos before. Though some may argue that this will bring him to the table to negotiate with the West, in my opinion any negotiation would be seen as a sign of weakness and is therefore the last thing Putin would want to do.
Putin's only likely response to escalate in Ukraine and possibly open up new fronts in other countries where there are "Russians to protect." But doing so will only harden the sanctions, leading to further economic pain in Russia -- and further military adventures to distract Russia's people from that pain.
I cannot imagine a scenario in which there is any compromise, because for Putin compromise means being overthrown. Judging from all of his actions to date, he is ready to destroy his country for his own self-preservation.
We should start preparing ourselves for a war in Europe that may spread well beyond the borders of Ukraine. The only Western response to this has to be containment. This all may sound alarmist, but I've spent the past eight years in my own war with Putin, and I have a few insights about him that are worth knowing.