Which may have been a bold but fine move in 2014.
As I wrote in another thread:
>>Actually, anyone who didn't buy Francis Fukuyama could look up what would happen on a handfull of maps, diagrams and statistics. Even the official Russian ones.
Russia is landlocked or easily cut off.
Russia has vast empty stretches of land without population and transport routes.
Russia's main population centers and easily destructible logistic infrastructure lies to the west.
Russia has nine geostrategically important entry points that have to be secured.
Russia has to expand its sphere of influence to secure them.
Russia lost most of them in the early nineties and declined from Global Power to ignored bystander.
Their demographics works against them.
Their time runs out.
It's an Russian Empire or it's nothing.
If the west fuck it up in the next weeks, it may see a last warning over the baltic sea in form of a light brighter than thousand suns.
p.s.
And yes, I think Putin is mad and paranoid.
And that is the problem.>> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30488300]
Well, perhaps, we will see a nuke over another sea.
And the Chinese are waiting out the whole mess between Russia and the West.
A bit like they did in WWII with the Kuomintang and the Japanese. Expensive pastime for sure, but brilliant.