Photo: 
AFP
Bear hug: Putin, the G20 and Ukraine

His warmest encounter was with a koala, and even the animal looked alarmed. Vladimir Putin departed early from the G20 summit in Brisbane, having been roundly chastised: Canada’s Stephen Harper reportedly told him, “I guess I’ll shake your hand, but I have only one thing to say to you: You need to get out of Ukraine.” Mr Putin’s mood, and Russia’s ostracism, may worsen today, when European Union foreign ministers discuss extending the sanctions imposed over the covert invasion—which, preposterously, the Kremlin still denies. In Brisbane, European leaders co-ordinated their response to the crisis with Barack Obama; further travel bans and asset freezes may hit Mr Putin’s henchmen. Sanctions have contributed to Russia’s deepening economic malaise, yet manoeuvres in Ukraine suggest that, rather than withdrawing, Russian-backed forces are preparing to discard the flimsy truce and push further into Ukrainian territory, perhaps to make the pro-Russian enclave more coherent and defensible.

Nov 17th 2014
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