Vladimir Putin has performed what should be considered an impossible task. The Russian dictator has managed to unite virtually the entire world against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Get a load of this: Switzerland and Sweden, two of Europe’s most adamantly neutral nations, have lined up solidly in the Ukraine camp. Switzerland has imposed a virtual ban on all Russian banking activity; Sweden has decided to send military equipment to assist the Ukrainians in their fight against the Russian aggressors.
Nations have banned Russian aircraft from flying into their air terminals. Embassies have been shuttered. The ruble is now worthless because virtually no country on Earth wants to do business with the Russians.
Get a load of this: Millions of people have marched in streets around the world, including — and this is fantastic! — in Moscow. Even the Russians are calling for an end to the invasion.
Vladimir Putin is now seen across the good Earth as a pariah. Russia’s third-rate economy is being dismantled daily. He is not without his allies, in China, in Belarus and, oh yes, even a former U.S. president.
Putin, though, has shown the world how to unite people of widely disparate religious and political views. They are united against the hideous military action that Putin has launched against a sovereign nation, which by the way has put up a ferocious resistance against the invaders.
This is an international reaction I cannot remember ever witnessing unfold in real time.
It is a sight to behold.