Schlock Art of the Ukraine Deal
I always guessed the 'Art of the Deal' author would eventually suggest that Russia buy Crimea from Ukraine to legalize its 2014 seizure of the strategic peninsula. Put aside Vladimir Putin's airy fairy rumination on the mystical unity of Ukrainians and Russians. As he admitted days before the current invasion, a practical problem bedeviled Mr. Putin. If a Ukraine drawing closer to the West tried to reclaim Crimea, would Russia be at war with NATO?
The U.S. never put the chips on the table seriously to threaten Russia's hold on Crimea, but it still owns a giant and valuable carrot in being able to offer, as a result of negotiation, a path to legalize that hold. One analysis, by the Jamestown Foundation, mentions a figure of $40 billion.
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