Putin laughs at meaningless threats. And with hypersonic missiles, and submarines that can launch nukes and cruise undetected to within a few miles of American shores, why shouldn't he laugh? All this saber rattling is dangerous. And the US is a paper tiger, so far as Russia and China are concerned. NATO should let things run their course in Ukraine, and stay out of it.

I think maybe they should try to lift sanctions in order to prevent an invasion. Maybe they could lift water restriction to Crimea if Russia agrees to lay off.

Sanctions only work if the country is well integrated into the world economy, that's why Israel is so terrified of them. against Russia they would just make Putin more popular and drive Russia and China closer together. Since Russia isn't about to invade Ukraine unless Ukraine does something Saakashvili stupid, likely a moot point.

Since I was married to a Cuban and immersed in the culture 20 years, my take was it hurts the people not the pendejos running the country. not the government. It is a strange concept to me. I am hardly knowledgeable about hitting their technology. It just seems the results won't be fast but retribution could be.

Does Europe need natural gas from Russia more than Russia needs imports from the West ?