Quote of the Day

“First I was in Sloviansk, then I’ll go to Mariupol and after that I’ll go to Kiev.” -- a pro-Russian separatist manning a checkpoint in southeastern Ukraine, where the city of Mariupol is under the threat of occupation by Russian-backed insurgents.  Only time will tell if his sentiments reflect those of his Russian backers.

President Obama is traveling to Estonia for a meeting tomorrow with leaders of that country and of Latvia and Lithuania to discuss Russia's expansionism and incursions into Ukraine with the nervous Baltic nations.  NATO leaders meeting in Wales this week are expected to take up the proposal that a "rapid response" force be established to deal with potential Russian incursions in Eastern Europe, with an increasingly arrogant and reckless Vladimir Putin pushing forward.

UPDATE:  Perhaps the pro-Russian separatist quoted above has been listening to Russian autocrat Putin after all.  Taking Kiev in two weeks?  This man has become dangerously delusional.