Foreign Policy Analyst Speaks To Stigall About The Current Situation In Ukraine
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall spoke with foreign policy analyst Ed Turzanski on Wednesday on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine following a referendum in the Crimea region in favor of annexation into Russia, and the subsequent announcement of sanctions from the Obama Administration and countries in Europe.
Click below to listen to the podcast...
Turzanski, the John Templeton Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and a Political Science Professor at LaSalle University, said the Russians are not taking the current actions against them seriously.
"You've got Putin's people coming out and openly mocking the administration, saying that a prankster must've fed the President's teleprompter. The Russians pay attention to us, and this is a very uncomfortable situation to be in right now," he said.
Turzanski also offered his solution to deal with Vladimir Putin's aggression before it destabilizes more of Eastern Europe.
"For starters, I'd have him be quiet. There's enough of this promising that there are going to be sanctions and harsh measures are going to be taken, when people know quite well that he's not going to do it. We're back to a Syrian red line situation, where the real damage is self-inflicted. The President, by laying out an expectation that he's going to do something very dramatic and then falling short of that mark, actually encourages further misconduct. Behind the scenes, we should push to boot Russian out of the G8 and the G20," Turzanksi explained.
As to why Americans should care about the events happening right now in Ukraine, Turzanski offered a warning, saying that if Putin is not stopped now, he will continue trying re-conquer former Soviet states.