You're reading: Reuters: As China looks on, Putin poses risky dilemma for the West

One senior Obama administration official called Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine "outrageous." A second described them as an "outlaw act." A third said his brazen use of military force harked back to a past century.

“What we see here are distinctly 19th and 20th
century decisions made by President Putin,” said the official who spoke
on condition of anonymity to a group of reporters. “But what he needs to
understand is that in terms of his economy, he lives in the 21st century world, an interdependent world.” 

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