I have commented here a number of times that it appears that Obama has a great reluctance to engage in verbal support for and to arm the Ukraine at least with defensive weapons.

AND more importantly over the last two weeks of intense shellings and ground attacks not much has come from him and his DoS Kerry other than Kerry's rather recent open criticism of the Ukraine for not holding to and implementing
Minsk 2.

To an outsider it appears that he has taken a not so subtle approach to actually supporting Putin in the Ukraine in exchange for Russian support in Iran and Syria.

BUT if history tells us anything--it is that we must go back into it in order to understand the actions of the actors today.

This might in fact be the core reason for Obama's reluctance---history is repeating itself.

After basically being responsible for the disarmament of the Ukraine he does not want to go into the history books as the one who rearmed the Ukraine.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz3dWZpV89Z

By David Martosko, U.S. Political Editor

Published: 06:58 GMT, 5 March 2014 | Updated: 07:06 GMT, 5 March 2014

Flashback: Senator Obama pushed bill that helped destroy more than 15,000 TONS of ammunition, 400,000 small arms and 1,000 anti-aircraft missiles in Ukraine

•
Obama traveled to Ukraine with Sen. Dick Lugar in 2005 just seven months after he became a senator, touring surplus weapons stockpiles
•Most of the small arms and ammunition were left over when Soviets withdrew from Eastern bloc nations, and later dumped in Ukraine
•The two senators secured U.S. funding to help destroy the weapons instead of leaving them intact
•Ukraine exported more than 700,000 small arms in 2004-2007, including 101,000 each to Libya and the UK, and 260,000 to the U.S.
•But most of the ammunition stockpiles – crucial for keeping a standing army battle-ready – were destroyed
•Ukraine is in a staring match with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has designs on recapturing portions of the former Soviet nation
Is he actually looking at his legacy and that precludes him from actively getting directly involved in the Ukraine???