Thus Der Spiegel today. “Vladimir Putin has ignored western demands that he cease arming and supporting pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine,” explains the newspaper. “As such, he shares responsibility for the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines flight 17. It is now time for Europe to take tough action.” According to the article, there could hardly be any doubt that the missile that shot down the passenger jet was supplied by Russia. Tough action is thus justified. But it boils down to sanctions by the European Union as a whole. In fact, the article is aimed at France, which keeps insisting on delivering warships to Russia, and at Britain, which continues coveting the profits earned by Russian oligarchs. The Union can do without Russia’s energy, but Russia cannot cope without the Union’s money. Germany is ready to make sacrifices in this case. The rest of the Union should also bear the burden of sanctions, which will eventually bring Russia down. Or so the argument goes. Pretty tough, no doubt. One can only hope that Putin will read the article and comply with its august call before it is too late. After all, he seems to understand tough action pretty well.