President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he wanted better ties with the West but fiercely criticized U.S. policy on Ukraine and the global economy - and acknowledged that sanctions were hurting Russia.
Well, duh. After grabbing Crimea, naturally he wants a fresh "reset" rather than pay a price for aggression.
Naturally, he blames America:
"The world has changed," Putin said. Indirectly criticizing Washington, he added: "The unipolar vision of the world ... has failed."
Yeah. Russia violates the UN charter in general and the Budapest Memorandum specifically written to guarantee Ukraine's territorial integrity by invading Ukraine to take Crimea and destabilizing the east with a so-far failed attempt at round two of annexation--and it is America's fault.
I guess we're supposed to give Putin a world-weary Gallic shrug and send a new amphibious warfare ship to Russia without a peep of protest.
If Putin tells us not to worry because he has no more territorial ambitions, I think I'll puke up my dinner.
Seriously, we're not dumb enough to fall for this, are we?
