Putin's 'bluster' is hiding his fears for himself.

Putin,  thanks to his invasion and annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, and his war with Ukraine in the Donbas, has woken the sleeping giant of NATO, against which he is now railing.

As reported by Sky News,

"Russia says NATO's military build-up in the Baltic states is "absolutely unjustified", while Poland claims President Vladimir Putin's nation is a bigger threat than Islamic State.

Moscow's ambassador to Brussels suggested relations between Russia and the alliance were "very bad" in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine." (Sky News : Friday 15 April 2016) (my emphasis)

The bluster with which he initially announced the building of the bridge to span the Kerch strait between Russia and Ukrainian Crimea has now changed to a whimper.

As reported by Andrew Osborn,

"Russia has pushed back the completion date of a showcase multi-billion dollar bridge to link the Russian mainland with annexed Crimea by one year, saying the original plan had to be adjusted to take account of the weight of the trains that will cross it.

 ......

Minutes of a meeting Putin held with ministers last month during a visit to the construction site for the bridge - dubbed "Putin's bridge" by some Russians - show the president was informed about the delay at the time and was initially unhappy with what he heard." (Yahoo News (Reuters) : April 13, 2016)

As an elderly lady in Ukrainian Crimea commented,

"Who cares about the bridge?," one elderly lady feeding cats in a local park said when asked what she felt about it.

"They can't even repair the road behind you," said the woman, who declined to give her name for fear of retribution. "Let them start with that."

Other locals were skeptical that the Crimean authorities would do their part on time, pointing to an ordinary road bridge in Kerch which has stood unfinished for years." (Andrew Osborn : Reuters : Mon Apr 18, 2016) (my emphasis) 

Is it this 'anger' of Putin at not being able to build his "bridge" on time that led his security forces to invade mosques all over Ukrainian Crimea yesterday?

As reported by UNIAN,

"Armed men arrived at the mosque in the settlement of Molodyozhne in Simferopol district and attempted to take away nearly a hundred Muslim locals after a prayer in the mosque, according to a Crimean Tatar lawyer Emil Kurbedinov’s posting on Facebook.

.....At the same time, Krym.Realii online media outlet wrote that the Russian security forces in the occupied Crimea were carrying out ID checks in mosques." (UNIAN : 06.05.2016) (my emphasis)

Meanwhile, Putin continues to pour arms into the rebel-held territories in eastern Ukraine, as reported by Daniel Sharkov.

"A video that appears to show pro-Russian rebels moving heavy weapons toward the contact line with Ukrainian troops is adding fuel to warnings by independent observers that neither side is upholding the withdrawal agreement." (Newsweek : 5/4/16 ) (my emphasis) (picture right: Column Of Military Vehicles In Lugansk)

Fighting continues to erupt between Putin's forces and those of the Ukrainian military, despite a 'ceasefire' that is supposed to be in place, as reported by Reuters (Saturday, April 30, 2016)

Which throws into strong relief why that Putinversteher, Walter Steinmeier, is still pushing for elections to be held in the Donbas whilst Putin's soldiers and rebel-proxies seem to be 'upping the ante' as if in preparation for a summer asssault against Mariupol.

Steinmeier has,

" .... invited foreign ministers to meet in Berlin May 11 to discuss the preparation of local elections in eastern Ukraine..." (Laurens Cerulus : Politico : May 1st 2016) (my emphasis)

Given the fact that Putin's bridge across the Kerch strait is now faltering, and that the capture of Mariupol will be the creation of a land-link between Russia and Ukrainian Crimea, is it any wonder that Putin is accelerating his supply of arms to his 10,000 Russian soldiers supporting his rebel-proxies in the Donbas? 

How can elections be held in the Donbas under these conditions? 

This 'diplomatic' ploy of Steinmeier has NOTHING to do with elections but EVERYTHING to do with setting the scene in the EU for the ENDING of  EU sanctions against Putin and his 'kleptocratic' siloviki and Kremlin cronies in July of this year.

The pressure by Putin's supporters in the EU for the ending of EU sanctions against Putin's Russia, especially in Germany, Italy, and France, is increasing to a point where their renewal in July of this year is becoming highly questionable.

And, no matter how you slice or dice it, the Russian economy is nose-diving.

"Experts predict decline of Russia's GDP in 2016 to 1.9% instead of the previous 1.2%, said in EC report in the spring.

At the same time the European Commission has worsened the forecast for GDP growth in Russia in 2017 - up to 0.5% from 0.3%.

"The main factors influencing on the Russian economy, will continue to be the geopolitical situation, a weak rise in oil prices, as well as the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Russia", the report says." (Cəfər Ağadadaşov (right): Report News Agency : 03 May, 2016) (my emphasis)

Is it any wonder, as reported on 'Johnson's Russia List', that,

"Consumer confidence in Russia fell to 63 points in the first quarter of this year on Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index, the lowest level since records began in 2005, the Kommersant newspaper reported Friday.
...
As Russia continues to experience economic recession, the real wages of Russians shrank 9.5 percent in 2015. This year, the trend continued with 3.9 percent in real wages year-on -year in the first quarter of 2016, according to the Rosstat state statistics service."

“The continuing decline in real incomes means that Russians’ consumer activity will remain low in the near future,” (Johnson's Russia List : May 2, 2016) (my emphasis)

Is the 'hidden agenda' of Walter Steinmeier to get EU sanctions against Russia dropped simply to help his 'friend' Putin out of the recessive economic vice in which he now finds himself?

And lest we forget .... 

Putin is building a 'fortress army' around himself and his kleptocratic siloviki and Kremlin cronies.

(to be continued)