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Putin Escalates, Europe Hesitates

In some quarters of Europe, the desire to give Russian President Vladimir Putin at least part of what he wants in Ukraine remains, on the assumption that he would then stop and economic relations could return to some semblance of what they were before. But they can't, because he won't.

WASHINGTON, DC – Vladimir Putin’s illegal annexation of four regions of Ukraine, which he claims are now to be regarded as part of Russia, represents a major escalation of the war he launched in February. The parallels with Hitler’s expansion strategy are growing stronger by the day. In the face of advancing Ukrainian forces, Russia’s president orders his forces to fire missiles and artillery indiscriminately at civilian populations. Wherever his troops are pushed back, further evidence of war crimes and mass murder is found.

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