Russian President Putin builds ties in Moldova, Kazakhstan and Baltics

[uhnope]

Full article has some info on Putin's undisguised hopes to bring all countries with ethnic Russians back into a "New Russia." Putin has said "The breakup of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century."
Source: Wash Post

MOSCOW — Vowing to defend ethnic Russians wherever they live, President Vladimir Putin has embarked on an aggressive campaign to rebuild the pride and assertiveness of the Russian people, which he says was lost in the breakup of the Soviet Union.

A week ahead of a presidential vote in Ukraine that will help determine that nation’s relationship with Russia, Putin has been devoting new power to redressing what he has called the historical tragedy that shattered the Soviet Union into 15 nations.

From annexing Crimea to collecting separatist petitions in Moldova to handing out passports to compatriots in the Baltics, Putin has spent recent weeks focused on neighboring countries, many of which have substantial ethnic Russian minorities.

The strategy puts Russia on a collision course with the NATO defense alliance, because two of its members — Estonia and Latvia — have significant Russian-speaking minorities that have long complained of discrimination. NATO has boosted air patrols over the Baltic states and sent troops to do exercises on the ground. Russia this month unleashed missile tests and massive war exercises, including along the border with Latvia and Estonia.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-president-putin-builds-ties-in-moldova-kazakhstan-and-baltics/2014/05/17/fa1beb22-c45f-4027-9b30-cc45212c785e_story.html

[geek tragedy]

1. He has no leverage in the Baltics.

If Russian-passport holders start pulling the insurrectionist thuggery that happened in the Ukraine, they'll do so without any pretense of protection from the Russian army, which means said secessionists would face some combination of lethal force and deportation to the Russian side of the border.

Since they are not idiots, they will respect the laws and integrity of the state in which they live regardless of what Czar Vladdy wants .