Is Putin beginning to stare into the abyss of his dénouement?

A week ago today, on 24th August, Ukraine celebrated its Independence Day.

To the consternation of Putin, General Mattis, US Defence Secretary, attended these celebrations and, more significantly, in a press conference with Ukrainian President Poroshenko, stated that,

"Despite Russia's denials, we know they [Putin] are seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe," Mattis told reporters, alongside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
...
"On the defensive lethal weapons, we are actively reviewing it, I will go back now having seen the current situation and be able to inform the secretary of state and the president in very specific terms what I recommend for the direction ahead," Mattis said.

"Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you are an aggressor and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor since it is their own territory where the fighting is happening," Mattis said."

(Idrees Ali and Pavel Polityuk : Reuters : August 24, 2017) (my emphasis)

What must have also stuck in Putin's craw is the fact that the Independence Day Military Parade in Kiev included soldiers from NATO countries supporting Ukraine in its war with Putin.

Meanwhile, 3 days ago,

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for Russia and Ukraine to increase their efforts to implement a fragile ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine. " (Michael Nienaber : Reuters : August 28, 2017) (my emphasis)

Merkel and Macron further stated that,

"We urge President Putin and President Poroshenko to fully respect their commitments, to support the ceasefire in a public and clear manner, and to ensure that appropriate instructions have been sent to the military and local forces,” they said in a joint statement issued by the chancellery in Berlin." (ibid Michael Nienaber)

Neither Merkel nor Macron are willing to explicitly condemn Putin and his Russian soldiers and proxies as the instigators for the failure of the 'ceasefire' in the Donbas.

In similar vein, Trump failed to explicitly condemn the Klu Klux Klan and White Supremacy groups for the death of Heather Heyer (right) during the Charlotsville demonstration.

As reported by Joanna Walters (left),

"Politicians from all sides have rounded on Donald Trump for failing explicitly to condemn white supremacy groups or use the term domestic terrorism after a woman [Heather Heyer] was killed [by a White Supremicist] when [he smashed his] car ... into anti-racism protesters at the weekend. 

On Saturday the president condemned hatred and violence “on many sides” in his remarks, but did not directly single out the white supremacists ..." (The Guardian : Monday 14 August 2017)

Why this reluctance on the part of Merkel and Macron to explicitly condemn Putin and his Russian soldiers and proxies as the instigators of the the 'ceasefire' failure in the Donbas, and why the reluctance of Trump to utter even one word of condemnation against Putin since he entered the US presidential race?

Could it be that in the case of Merkel and Macron, the new US sanctions against Putin and his Kremlin 'siloviki',

" ...  would almost surely affect a controversial pipeline project between Russia and Germany known as Nord Stream 2, which is owned by Gazprom but includes financial stakes from European companies.."
...
[The] new sanctions have important implications for Europe because they target any company that contributes to the development, maintenance or modernization of Russia’s energy export pipelines." ( Steven Erlanger and Neil MacFarquhar : New York Times : July 25, 2017)
 
And in the case of Donald Trump, it now emerges that during the US presidential elections in 2016,

"... [Trump's] company was pursuing a plan to develop a massive Trump Tower in Moscow, according to several people familiar with the proposal and new records reviewed by Trump Organization lawyers." (Carol D. Leonnig, Tom Hamburger and Rosalind S. Helderman : Washington Post : August 27, 2017) (my emphasis)
 

(Maddow video report)

 

Given that,

•  the new US sanctions will directly target any company that contributes to the development, maintenance or modernization of Russia’s energy export pipelines, 
• the Trump presidency is beginning to sink as the mounting evidence of the Trump-Putin collusion during the 2016 US presidential race continues to grow, 

what other avenue does Putin have for expressing his anger at these developments except to keep his war in the Donbas alive by allowing his Russian soldiers and proxies to continuosly break the fragile ceasefire arrangements?

Is Putin beginning to stare into the abyss of his dénouement?

(to be continued)