Some in the West are Saying to NO Puny Threads Let’s Cripple The Russians
The Daily Star finds a "Lads' Army" of 12-year-olds trained to handle Kalashnikov assault rifles in military sports clubs and quotes a military analyst saying there's an 80% chance of Moscow going to war with Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Sun also takes inspiration from the BBC comedy Dad's Army, comparing the Russian president with Adolf Hitler under a headline: "Who do you think you are kidding Mr Putin?" It likens his "sabre-rattling rhetoric", persecution of gay people and expanding military - as well as his expansionism - to that of the Nazi leader.
Roland Oliphant, in the Telegraph, sends a dispatch from Chongar where on Monday the first of many convoys of Ukrainian service personnel left their military base in Russian control and headed "home".
As Western leaders meet in the Netherlands,Justin Webb writes in the Times of the needfor American President Barack Obama to "cajole, corral, love bomb, bully, butter up and dress down" EU leaders to achieve a united front to present against Russia. The paper’s cartoonist Peter Brookes illustrates the feeling that the West has been too weak to stand up to Russia by showing a bare-chested and muscular Mr Putin in frNations areont of a wall of hunting trophies, including the heads of a tiger, moose, bear and of world leaders including Mr Obama and Mr Cameron.
Steve Bell, in the Guardian, has Western leaders making puny threats, such as "you shall not go to the G8 in Sochi", "I might stop using your gas", and "you're never going to be allowed to join Nato".
"Sanctions must bite hard," says the Sun, arguing: "A crippled Russian economy is our best hope of putting a stop to [Mr Putin's behaviour]." The Financial Times says there is already some fallout from the situation in Crimea, with Moscow expecting some $70bn (£42.5bn) of foreign investment to have flowed out of the country by the end of March.
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