The Swiss journalist Mathieu von Rohr in Der Spiegel:

"But today's Russia is not the Soviet Union. The country may have beefed up its military in recent years, but economically it remains relatively insignificant. Sanctions and the low oil price have thrown the country back even further. The fact that we are nevertheless being forced to reckon with Russia is solely the product of the determination and strategic savvy of the Russian leadership -- and the failure of the West. Ultimately, Russia is only as strong as the West is weak. Europe and the United States have no answer to Putin's aggressive approach because they themselves have no clear strategy. They are incapable of even agreeing on common goals."

(..)

"The Kremlin's threats, the strategic defeats against Putin and the fear of an armed conflict are now strengthening those in the West who wish to settle with Russia, no matter how high the price. Some German politicians would like to see sanctions against Russia lifted without getting anything in return. The latest trip by German politician Horst Seehofer -- governor of economic powerhouse Bavaria and the most vocal detractor of Merkel's refugee policies despite his Christian Social Union party being allied with her Christian Democrats -- also created the false impression that everything can be resolved by just exchanging more dialogue with Russia and voicing less criticism, ignoring the fact that a lack of talk is not the problem. With his visit and his cozying up to Putin, he allowed himself to become a cog in the wheel of Russia's propaganda machine."

Read the article here.

Yes, the weakness of the West is the strength of Putin's Russia. And we are willing to pay a high price to avoid a war, which is laudable, so the question remains: what's the red line? In Syria, in Ukraine.

After we saw what happened with regime change in Iraq we don't want to try regime change in Russia. Especially since so many Russians appear to be happy with their dictator.