Steven Greffenius · @sgreffenius
5th Jan 2017 from TwitLonger
Putin's trophy: part two
Here is a postscript for the previous post about Putin's theft of Bob Kraft's ring.
The U. S. government could have stood by him, to help Kraft recover something important to him. It could have gone to Putin in private, through regular diplomatic channels, to tell him that some misunderstanding has occurred, the ring was not intended as a gift when Kraft showed it to you. We're sorry you perceived otherwise, but we would like to have the ring returned. Putin would understand that if he did not respond to this face-saving approach, the next invitation from the U. S. to resolve the misunderstanding would be in public. If he says no in public, or simply ignores the request, he looks mighty bad.
Instead, the administration leans on Kraft to say nothing! As I've said over and over, Obama's foreign policy team are amateurs, and they know it. Their unwillingness to stand up for Kraft - who was Russia's guest, no less, when Putin stole the ring! - shows the measure of the wobbly spine. Putin handed them a perfect opportunity to be polite, yet firm, and they declined it!