We’re appalled by Putin now, but be clear: the west gave him the green light |

"Because Putin has hardly kept his worldview secret until now. On the contrary, he has acted on it at least three times in the past 15 years, each time paying little price. He seized a chunk of Georgia in 2008 and of Ukraine in 2014, to say nothing of his decision to adopt the Assad regime’s murderous war against the Syrian people as his own a year later. We may have forgotten about all that – the Russian dissident Garry Kasparov laments the “amnesia of the west” – but Putin has not. He noted the western shrug that greeted his annexation of Crimea: how, just four years later, Russia was cheerfully hosting the football World Cup. There was no beefing up of Ukrainians’ defences, so that they might protect themselves against this moment. There was no clearout of oligarch money from Londongrad. Putin understood the signal: it was a green light."

" The grimmer prospect is that Putin understands something about the 21st century few of us want to face: that this is an age of impunity, especially for those who have a vast and deadly arsenal but no shame."

More in the article by Jonathan Freedland

We’re appalled by Putin now, but be clear: the west gave him the green light | Jonathan Freedland | The Guardian