Were that to be 100% accurate the middle east would not have spent so much time and money developing other income streams ready for them to take the strain as oil demand inevitably declines.

It is looking more like that everyday. It is concerning when the message coming from russia is that Ukraine shouldn't even exist and must be wiped from the map.

How satisfying it would be to see that message turned back on russia.

It seems to me that it is time to break up the federation. Weather the regional conflicts and struggles as countries and borders are re-established and then help the region create a new trading block that is governed by genuinely, democratically elected leaderships eg. more than one horse elections.

It may be a pipe dream for now but I think the future for the russian federation is very uncertain.

I believe that putin's name in the history books, instead of being compared to great imperialist tsars if the past will conversely be linked to the start of the end of the russian empire.