Vladimir Putin’s ominous threat is in the news. “If I want to,” he told José Manuel Barroso according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, “I can take Kiev in two weeks.” This could take place if the European Union stepped up sanctions against Russia, that is. His words surprised me, I must admit. The double “I” in his threat sounds almost childish to me. It smacks of the kindergarten, to put it bluntly. Be that as it may, I have not expected such an adolescent phrasing from him. He appears to have an upper hand in the Ukraine crisis, and boasting of this ilk thus strikes me as entirely misbegotten. In fact, it is the first unambiguous sign of weakness on his part. For the first time in the crisis, I have a feeling that sanctions are taking a heavy toll on the Russian potentate. In other words, more sanctions would be quite devastating. Which would explain the sudden outburst of Putin’s ego.

Addendum (September 8, 2014)

The Dalai Lama is with me on this score. In an interview with a German newspaper, he characterized Putin as self-centered. “That’s a bit too much,” he said. “His attitude is: ‘I, I, I’.” Well put. Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader is on the right path.