Ukraine; Trying Not to Give Peace a Chance-- Again

"The U.S. Secretary of State is certainly an important person, but he is not the ultimate authority that determines the United States foreign policy. ... [Recalling our ambassador] would be an extreme measure. ... I really don't want to use it because I think Russia is not the only one interested in cooperation with partners on an international level and in such areas as economy, politics and foreign security; our partners are just as interested in this cooperation. It is very easy to destroy these instruments of cooperation and it would be very difficult to rebuild them."

Putin also fielded a question from six-year-old Albina toward the end of his marathon "Direct Line" TV conversation on April 17. She asked, "Do you think President Obama would save you if you were drowning?"

Putin:

"I sure hope this doesn't happen, but you know that there are personal relationships as well as relations between governments. I can't say that I have a special personal relationship with the U.S. President, but I think he is a decent man and brave enough. So, I think he definitely would."

However, as for that "growing trust" with President Obama -- and the chance for more progress toward a more peaceful world -- the U.S. hardliners who exacerbated the political situation in Ukraine, turning it into an international confrontation, appear to have succeeded in blocking the latest best hope for U.S.-Russian cooperation.

But there remains an obvious solution to at least prevent matters from getting worse. The beneficiaries of "regime change" in Kiev, who now find themselves in power at least for the nonce, need to make clear that Ukraine will not attempt to join NATO; and NATO needs to make clear that it has no intention of folding Ukraine into NATO. (Polling shows a lack of enthusiasm among Ukrainians for NATO, in any case.)

This is the most important step to be taken to rebuild trust -- or at least prevent the further deterioration of trust -- between Obama and Putin.

At his press conference on March 4, President Putin complained about "our Western partners" continuing to interfere in Ukraine. "I sometimes get the feeling," he said, "that somewhere across that huge puddle, in America, people sit in a lab and conduct experiments, as if with rats, without actually understanding the consequences of what they are doing. Why do they need to do this?"

Putin has taken some pains to hold the door open to a restoration of trust with President Obama. From the U.S. side, this might be the right time to close down the lab where all those destructive "regime change'" experiments take place.