[An Nahar] President Vladimir Putin...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
denied on Tuesday that Russian troops were operating in the Ukrainian Black Sea region of Crimea, while sending Moscow's forces to Ukraine would be an entirely legitimate move but also a last resort.
U.S. President Barack Obama
Because I won...
, however, said Putin's rationale for his incursion into Crimea was not "fooling anybody" and said Russian "meddling" would push states away from Moscow.
But Obama also noted what he said were "reports" that Putin was pausing for a moment to reflect on his options over the crisis.
Obama said the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
and allies like Canada and Japan all believed Russia violated international law.
"President Putin seems to have a different set of lawyers, maybe a different set of interpretations. But I do not think that is fooling anybody," Obama said, at a school in Washington DC.
Obama, accused by political foes of showing weak leadership in the crisis, disputed the idea that Putin's dispatch of thousands of troops into Crimea, part of Ukraine, was a sign of strength by the Russian leader.
He said instead that the move was a "reflection that countries near Russia have deep concerns and suspicions about this kind of meddling."
"If anything, it will push many countries further away from Russia."
Putin broke over a week of silence after the overthrow of president Viktor Yanukovych to denounce the changeover of power in Kiev as an "anti-constitutional take-over" and armed seizure of power.
Rather than choosing an address to the nation for the landmark comments as many expected, Putin instead held a briefing for Kremlin news hounds at his out-of-town residence of Novo-Ogaryovo that was broadcast live on state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
He denied that Russian forces were operating in Crimea, saying that only "local forces of self-defense" were surrounding Ukrainian military bases in the region.