Michael Bociurkiw: Checkmate. Putin has the West cornered

Michael Bociurkiw -
U.S. President Joe Biden meets Russian President Vladimir Putin for a bilateral meeting in Geneva on June 17, 2021. (The White House/Facebook)

As 2022 nears, the West is trying to figure out Russian President Vladimir Putin's next move on a complex geopolitical chessboard -- and preparing an "aggressive package" of sanctions, should he decide to make another land grab in Ukraine.

Tensions are now at their highest since 2014, when Russia illegally annexed Crimea and dispatched "little green men" into Ukraine's Donbas region. An all-out land invasion of Ukraine is now a real possibility.

But let's face it. Putin could care less about the West's threats, sitting as he does in the enviable position of being able to call the shots.

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Editor's Note: This op-ed was published by CNN. The Kyiv Independent is aggregating it as a recommendation to our readers.