SNUB – AT 8:45 A.M. ET: Vladimir Putin is back in town, the town being Moscow.  He's president of Russia again, as belligerent as always.  And what better why to assert one's power than to snub the president of the United States, which is what Putin is now doing.  From Fox:

WASHINGTON – Just days after reclaiming the Russian presidency, Vladimir Putin has canceled his planned visit to the United States, where he'd been scheduled to attend a major economic summit and meet with President Obama.

The White House confirmed in a statement late Wednesday that Putin told Obama on a phone call he'd be sending Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in his place. Putin claimed he was too busy finalizing cabinet appointments to make the May 18-19 G-8 Summit at Camp David. Yet the Obama administration had moved the gathering to the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland from the planned venue in Chicago partly to accommodate Putin.

Whether or not the schedule change marked an intentional snub, the let-down comes less than a week after the nation's military chief of staff warned that Russia would consider preemptive strikes, if a dispute with the United States over a Europe-based missile defense system worsens.

COMMENT:  Of course it's an intentional snub.  The "too busy" argument is a snub, by definition.  It reminds me of high-school girls who say they're "busy" on every day a guy suggests for a date.  The message is unmistakable.  (Of course this never happened to me.) 

Putin is anti-American.  He is a champion of a rising, militarily powerful Russia, and I would not sell him short.  We were assured by the Obamans that we would "reset" our relations with Russia, and an attempt was made.  The "reset" has produced nothing for us.  Putin could easily have come to the United States, but he is indicating to Obama Moscow's independence, and not-very-subtle contempt for Obama's weakness.

There is no prospect that our relations with Russia will improve in the short term.  That is not on Vlad's agenda.

May 10, 2012