A Cold War again

Not since the end of the Cold War have Russia and the West taken such extreme positions. The annexation of Crimea and the threat to eastern Ukraine from the naked support to rebels from Russia, which also led to the tragic shooting down of the Malaysian jetliner with 298 people on board, have been met with economic sanctions from the West. In tit-for-tat measures like the ban on import of foods from the US, EU, Norway, Canada and Australia with financial implications of $9.5 billion, President Vladimir Putin’s Russia may well be shooting itself in the foot as it is the country’s poorest who will have to pay more for food.
The West is dismissive of the food import ban, but it may have to suffer more if Russia carries out its threat to stop planes from Europe to Asia overflying its territory. If Siberian airspace is excluded, European airlines may have to shell out close to $30,000 more per flight in operating costs. The West still holds the upper hand as its sanctions are hurting the Russians more, particularly their business tycoons who cannot fly their personal jets due to US action. Putin is riding the crest of a wave of popularity in his country, which is beginning to see him as the man taking on the bullies of the West, while the West accuses him of being the world’s biggest bully at the moment. The question of the former Iron Curtain countries on Russia’s western edge is not easily solved. The solution would obviously lie in talks, but who is to bell the cat?