Yeah...Crazy like a fox. He's on a roll. Perhaps another Georgia-style intervention? If so, to what degree? Stay out of the picture? Nah. I don't see it.

Ukraine

"Where east meets west

Mr Putin has never come to terms with Ukraine’s sovereignty, seeing the country as a non-state which ultimately belongs to Russia. He saw the EU’s attempt to sign a deal with Ukraine as little more palatable than NATO’s attempt to draw in Georgia in 2008. That resulted in a five-day war between Russia and Georgia, leaving separatist parts of Georgia occupied by Russian forces and off-limits for NATO. Experiences gathered then may have come in handy in Ukraine. Vladislav Surkov, a Kremlin adviser who is formally in charge of dealing with the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, has been handling the Ukraine crisis for Mr Putin, and has been spotted in Kiev and Crimea.

Mr Yanukovych believed that he was trading his refusal to sign an agreement with the EU for Russia’s financial backing. But Mr Putin, who places little trust in Mr Yanukovych, needed firmer guarantees of Ukraine’s dependence on Russia. A civil conflict, blamed on the radicals, not only deters the EU and the West from meddling, but could also give Russia dominance over parts of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it has long coveted.

What next?...................."