Russia attempts an anschluss with Ukraine, but the Russians are all hot on our reaction to Russian maneuvering:
An east-west struggle over Ukraine turned nastier as Moscow accused the United States of fomenting a coup and Washington pointed a finger at Russia for leaking a recording of U.S. diplomats discussing how to shape a new government in Kiev.
If that is how Russians are framing the issue, what might they do in Ukraine? They have quite the opportunity to gain freedom of action, no?
But on the bright side, I think I can say with some confidence that the Russians have abandoned any hope of getting post-2012 election "flexibility" from President Obama on whatever subject they were looking forward to discussing.