Your Move, Putin

The former ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul discusses Vladimir Putin's impending actions against the Ukraine in an interview with Brian Williams.Vladimir Putin has certainly been in the spotlight lately for American newscasters around the nation after sending troops to Crimea, and many are now asking, "What will he do next?" The U.S.'s former ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul answered these questions that fall into his area of expertise recently in an interview with Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. McFaul tackled questions regarding Putin's next moves first with an analysis of Putin's recent press conference. McFaul discussed two of Putin's statements that he noted as contradictory and the threats he detected therein. Putin at one point said that the Ukraine needs a legitimate government though Russia has no intention of annexing Crimea, and yet he contradicted that statement by claiming that Russia was no longer obligated to commit to any international treaties previously signed with the Ukraine due to the revolution in Kiev. According to McFaul, this means that there is more to come from Putin. McFaul discussed other threats he has noticed coming from Russia as well. For example, he remarked that he felt unnerved by what he had been hearing recently from officials in Moscow. These officials were looking for excuses to take action based on any violence in the Eastern Ukraine that would lead Russia to step up and protect Russian citizens. Though McFaul pointed out that there has been absolutely no violence in Crimea yet, as soon as there is any, that will be when Putin makes his next move. It is certain that people around the world will be watching Crimea and anxiously awaiting what is to come.