Ukraine – pawn in a bigger power game

Russian troops massing on Ukraine’s border, reportedly 83,000, the greatest show of force since Putin’s annexation of the Crimea in 2014, has provoked NATO, the EU and the USA into issuing warnings indicating their support for Ukraine.  Two US warships are due in the region this week. There have been hostilities recently between Russia-backed separatists and government troops in eastern Ukraine, breaking a months-long cease-fire. But it’s also thought likely that Putin is