Western leaders supposedly rebuked Vladimir Putin for his Crimea conquest by moving this year’s G- 8 meeting from Sochi and disinviting the Russian President. But you wouldn’t know it by taking a look at Mr. Putin’s calendar last week as the G-7 convened without him in Brussels.
French President François Hollande broke ranks first by inviting Mr. Putin to the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings on Friday. We don’t recall the Red Army took part in D- Day, but Mr. Hollande has Mistral cruisers to sell to Moscow. He followed up with a Thursday dinner invitation for the Russian, the same night that he had a previously scheduled meal with President Obama. A man of legendary appetites, the Frenchman kept both dates.
Perhaps feeling left out of this social swirl, British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel scheduled their own meetings with the Russian leader. So much for Mr. Obama’s argument that the West is uniting to isolate the man in the Kremlin.
Russia’s government- controlled media will portray these meetings as evidence that their country has suffered very little diplomatic punishment since Crimea. And Mr. Putin might even figure he’s better off because he no longer has to attend the G-7 gabfests but still gets to go to dinner.
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