The U.S. and Global Security Review - Blog by Michael Novakhov

Putin Marches Ahead - WSJ Friday August 29 th , 2014  at  8:56 AM 1 Share Aug. 28, 2014 8:05 p.m. ET Say this about  Vladimir Putin . The Russian strongman has taken the measure of German Chancellor Angela Merkel  and President Obama. He knows they dread a showdown over Ukraine, so he is ignoring their rhetorical protests and moving to carve out even more of Ukraine for Greater Russia. That's the meaning of the Kremlin's decision this week to move Russian forces into the Ukrainian coastal town of Novoazovsk while shoring up Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. A NATO official said "well over" 1,000 Russian troops, backed by heavy armor, have joined the separatists in fighting Ukraine's military. Russia's president Vladimir Putin  Zuma Press The Kiev government is calling this an "invasion," while NATO clings to "incursion," but that's a distinction without a difference. Rus