Vladimir Putin is "not out of tricks," writes the Globe and Mail editorial board, and he proved as much Wednesday by backing sham referendums on Russian accession in four occupied territories of Ukraine, calling up 300,000 reservists, and threatening every possible defense of Russian territory. Here are four reactions to Putin's speech:
- Weak attempt at justification: In "resorting to a Potemkin vote to annex territories from which its soldiers are in danger of being evicted," Russia is distracting from that fact that Putin's invasion "has been an error-ridden disaster that has weakened him domestically and internationally," continues the Globe and Mail editorial board. He underestimated his opponents and the support they would receive while overestimating Russia's military might. And now comes "a weak attempt at providing some sort of justification, in Russia's favor, of a war" that has killed tens of thousands and "made refugees of more than six million others."