Late on Friday afternoon, news broke that Russian President Vladimir Putin had called President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss the possibility of a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Crimea. The two agreed to dispatch their chief emissaries to talk details about how to diffuse the situation. But while a settlement might now be a possibility, United States and NATO intelligence assessments agree that the likelihood of Russian troops crossing the border into eastern (and possibly northern and southern) Ukraine grows by the hour. So, is this another Putin psych-out? It may well be.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Foreign Policy: The Russians are coming
Russia's military-industrial complex needs Ukraine's manufacturing resources. \"It is difficult to overestimate the significance of Motor Sich for our aviation at least because its engines are used in all our helicopters, including the combat ones,\" Vladimir Voronov of Sovershenno Sekretno wrote, referring to Ukraine's aircraft engine company. \"It also remains the supplier of engines for aircraft used by the Russian Air Force and civilian airlines.\"
