Time to Revisit Putin

You can't say the Western Government's don't give Putin a chance to reform his ways.  But you also cannot say that Putin ever reforms his ways.

So let us remember the blood on Mr. Putin's hands?  It is now into the thousands of people.  There were the innocents on the Malaysian Air Flight, the contributing Ukrainian rebels who have lost their life's, the unfortunate Ukrainian soldiers who are fighting to protect the Ukraine's borders, and untold number of Ukrainian citizens who happen to live in the rebel zone which means some support the rebels and some do not, but all have come into harm's ways.

It is quite clear that the West needs to do 3 things:  Wean themselves off Gazprom somehow (U.S. exports anyone?), tighten the economic sanctions, and send the Ukraine airplanes full of anti-amour weapons.  Only when the Russian people feel the pain, will there be any pressure on Putin to change. And the pain must include the unfortunate reality of casualties to the Russian mercenaries (who knows whether they are formally in the military or not, they seem like a shadow army in any case).

I know enough Russians to know they are the victims of totalitarian leadership, but only when the masses turn on Putin will he change and we must pressure the masses.  That is how the Communists overthrew the Tsar whose ancestors, Peter the Great, I believe Putin models himself on.

I am not sure why China supports Putin so much, you would think they would be nervous about his unbridled quest for influence.