2015 Predictions: Vladimir Putin Could Lead Europe Into Another Cold War

Predictions for 2015 point to a dire situation in Europe with Russian President Vladimir Putin leading the region into what appears to be another Cold War.

In the past several months, Putin has been increasingly aggressive toward his neighbors, invading Ukraine to support pro-Moscow rebels and conducting a series of military exercises meant to threaten them. This includes dozens of instances of Russian war planes flying dangerously close to neighboring air spaces in a test of NATO defenses.

Now many are predicting that Vladimir Putin could be leading Europe into another Cold War, with tensions continuing to rise.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko wrote in an op-ed that Putin has acted with impunity in Ukraine, and called on the United States and other western powers to keep the pressure on Russia.

“Nobody should believe that the Minsk Protocol — agreed in September by representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the Kremlin-backed armed militants in the eastern cities of Donetsk and Luhansk — marked the beginning of a return to normalcy in either Ukraine or Europe.

“Under that agreement, Ukraine’s government ceded de facto control of the Donbas region, supposedly for only three years, to Russia’s hired secessionists.

“But this imported hybrid war — and Russia’s bid to carve up Ukraine — is far from over.

“On the contrary, the Minsk Protocol marked only the end of the beginning of Putin’s programme to turn Ukraine into a vassal state, and to restore a Russian veto over its neighbours’ international relations.

“His efforts to thwart Ukraine’s European future will continue, as will his efforts to hollow out our democracy and replace it with a Kremlin echo chamber, unless the world imposes such a high price for his imperial ambitions that the Russian people refuse to bear it.”

There are others 2015 predictions that point to continued tensions in the region. This month Vladimir Putin took Russia a step closer to full-blown conflict by updating the nation’s official military doctrine and listing NATO and the United States as the top threats to Russia’s security.