Ukraine Crisis: Is This Cold War Two

Events inn Ukraine have profoundly changed Western perceptions towards Russia  , and it's very hard to envisage any quick return to buisness as usual

president barrak Obama said upon arrival in the Netherlands for the G7 summit "significant consequences to the russian economy"

Sweden's Foreign minister Carl Bilde tweeted that Mr. mcFaul's gloomy prognosis was understating the problem since the Russian President was "building on deeply conservative orthodox ideas"

When the people responsable for good East-West relations are saying this , you know that this is no flash in the pan

So   is this Cold War Two or a lesser realignment in world politics? , much depends on Russian actions during the coming days

An invasion of Eastern Ukraine would likely trigger a full scale trade war , but consolidation off the hold on Crimea , with continued covert support to militant Russian groups in Donetsk or Kharkiv would pose a trickier dilemma to Western policy makers

However , since the Kremlin is not only unlikely to reverse it's stance in Crimea , but is also now brandishing the possibility of intervention in support of Russian's in Moldova or the Baltic Republics , it is evident that the new climate of tension is not going to be soothed quickly and may get far worse

Last week , the European Commission pledged to step up work to reduce energy dependence on Russia , and it is in this area that European leaders have shown their resentment at having been taken in by Mr. Putin before and allowed things to return to normal