I incidentally watched Obama talking shit about Putin earlier today. It's nice he's trying to pretend he has a backbone.... would be nice if he had any kind of passion in uttering the words he reads from his prepared speech, no matter what he's saying. He drawled on... something like "uhhh, it's time we teach Russia there are consequences for your actions."
OTOH, Western media is making a joke of the Russian soldiers who were "taking a vacation and got lost, ending up over borders in Ukraine," which is probably justified. Both sides are pretty tiring to listen to, frankly. Would be nice if we could each attend to our own affairs and say and do absolutely nothing about anything outside our borders, given, last I checked, the USG claims ownership over the US and the Russian government claims ownership over Russia.
Is Obama genuinely concerned by a Putin-led NWO? Why not instead focus on being more friendly with Maduro? Closer to the mainland and there's much more the USG can offer Venezuela over the almost-entirely-self-sufficient Russia. Give them a couple $billion/year in "aid," offer generous trade agreements, and put the past behind, then quit worrying about Russia entirely. Venezuela will be a key player in the future, I'd guess.... very well-socialized, with generous education budget. They aren't the next China, but they have the resources we're so desperate for, and in good quantity.
ETA: I don't mean to suggest Venezuela is some grand partner, but they're small enough to be controlled - and if it takes massive bribes, who cares? It's an unfortunate people in a government which should be brought down, but it seems our best chance would be to co-opt with honesty and a respect toward its people which even Maduro is impressed by and takes as genuine. Venezuelan government treats their people and industry like shit. They tax them to death and threaten with nationalization. -So let's give them enough money to quit that authoritarian horseshit and build a positive relationship with major petro country on our own continent. If someone's concerned about Russia and the EU, it should be Russia and the EU. Ain't our problem and there's no reason for it to be. Russian economy, unlike their military, isn't that big, and we can match their exports with friends we can make to our South. I'm pretty sure democracy is spread more effectively by empowering people, not threatening to shoot and sanction them.
-And as an aside, the US already is an extremely major trade partner with Venezuela, so we really only lack the bribery and genuine concern for the people of Venezuela, I'd guess. What the Hell are we doing in Eurasia?