by exploited » Fri Mar 14, 2014 2:38 pm
I think he is just flexing. The referendum is coming up. He is just reminding all interested parties of the potential cost of taking military action when it passes.
He won't take Ukraine or any other provinces (at least not anytime soon). He knows that the West doesn't want to get militarily involved, so he isn't going to give them any more reasons. He is taking Crimea, that was the goal of the entire exercise, and so if he sticks with that he can avoid any sort of military repercussions. The fact that Merkel thinks he is crazy is all the more reason for the West to exercise extreme caution - so even when Merkel is giving her strongest speeches, the only threat that has ever been issued (still) is economic and diplomatic sanctions. I wouldn't even be surprised if he was cultivating that assessment, given his training as an intelligence officer.