With a Russian military attack on Ukraine now imminent, Joe Biden is promising "tough sanctions" in response.
Russian President Vladimir Putin does not seem worried.
"Putin is the great international politics gambler" said Harry Kazianis, Senior Director at the Center For The National Interest, "He's a heck of a geopolitical poker player, he does a good job at reading his opponent, knowing what his cards are, knowing what his strengths and weaknesses are, and then playing his hand."
That hand would include cutting Russia off from the international banking system, which would have pretty severe consequences. But with Donald Trump no longer in office, Putin is preparing to go through with it anyway.
"He knows his military has been rebuilt from the ashes of the Soviet Union, so he has a lot of things that he can do to try and inflict pain on Ukraine" Kazianis told KTRH, "He doesn't have to invade Ukraine fully, or conquer the country, he just needs to damage it enough where the west just doesn't want to touch it anymore, so looking at all of his options, that's probably what he's thinking about right now."
So what's going to happen next? "I think right now if Putin had to make his choice, I think an attack is most likely" Kazianis said.
As for the U.S. getting involved, with some of our troops on heightened alert? "Considering the amount of inflation, and domestic and political problems the country has, I don't think there's an appetite for war with Russia right now" Kazianis said, "Sending troops to Ukraine is a non-starter."
The world is watching.
Photo: Getty Images