Stating the obvious that all but the blind can see:

Putin’s dangerous game

He sends out so many mixed messages that no one is really sure what he wants. But for a clearer picture, we need only look at what he does: and his arrival in Crimea, like a latter-day conquering hero, was calculated to encourage separatists in Donetsk.
Then again, his every move is being encouraged by the vacillating responses from the West.