Vladimir Putin is getting far too big for his boots or the West’s comfort:
TWO frigates and a patrol aircraft have been sent to monitor a fleet of Russian warships that has arrived in waters to Australia’s north, in an apparent show of force by Vladimir Putin ahead of his arrival in Brisbane for the G20 summit this weekend.
Senior sources said the Russian fleet’s arrival followed moves in recent weeks to send bombers towards NATO airspace in Europe, towards the US and over Japanese territorial waters…
“He (Mr Putin) is making the point that Russia has global reach and he’s making that point to the whole world,” a senior defence source said…
Australian Defence Force chief Mark Binskin said last night the Russians had publicised the mission to the South Pacific in advance. When asked whether it was an act of aggression, Air Chief Marshal Binskin said: “You’d have to ask the Russians.”..
Another Russian warship, the guided missile cruiser Moskva, was reportedly involved in live-fire drills in the South China Sea and its appearance in Southeast Asia was described by the US Naval Institute as “a rare show of surface presence in the region”.
Greg Sheridan:
...the Russian action is petty, puerile and more than a bit silly.
Any G20 nation could send warships to the waters near to Australia, but they don’t do so because their governments have a little more maturity and self-respect than Vladimir Putin’s outfit.
The Russians have been strutting around the Pacific for some time, but to no discernible effect.
The most serious actions they have taken in the Pacific in recent times have been a series of breaches of Japanese airspace by Russian fighters, to the north of Japan.
These actions have repeatedly caused the Japanese to scramble their own planes in response.
The Russian President is a thug and a bully and he is not a welcome guest in Australia, but surely even he doesn’t think that sending warships to waters near Brisbane will achieve any geopolitical outcome.
It might bolster his standing at home, but internationally it raises questions about his priorities and the motivation for his behaviour.
