I presume that Pooti and his boyz decided that the time to change their behavior was when they could see the sh@tstorm on the horizon and, I guess, that has happened. Stopping in place and dictating terms to the World is a truly great play for them. Personally, I think they need to be bathed in the sh@tstorm a bit…and I don’t buy the BS about US armed forces “stretched too thin” to respond, though I agree with the permitting of that perception; “cover and concealment are continuous.

As to investing, this exercise in Georgia provides a reminder of the advice that one should invest nothing in Russia that one is not prepared to lose.