I wish we could hear the conversations between leaders like Obama and Putin in situations

[penultimate]

like the ones that are taking place. I wonder how those play out and what the conversations are like. I couldn't imagine being either of them and having those conversations. Think they do any small talk? You know, asking about kids and stuff, or is it straight to the point? Any nervous cotton mouth while talking...

[joshcryer]

1. Diplomatic formalities.

The conversation probable went like "I support peace" "as do I" "yes peace is good" "yes I agree it is."

All the while each side is setting up its own contingency plans.

Putin trying to disarm Crimea's military to install his own military may well backfire.

[penultimate]

7. So you don't think this happened?

[davidpdx]

2. I would pay to be a fly on the wall

(or in the phone) for that conversation.

[LuvNewcastle]

3. I get the impression that those two don't like each other.

I wonder how civil their conversations are. I imagine stoicism and irony from Obama and snide humor and veiled threats from Putin. Or maybe I saw too many movies during the Cold War.

[1awake]

4. If they spoke for approx. 90 minutes

It entailed much more than diplomatic speak. Both of the statements of their conversations are most likely BS (though they may have touched on those topics of course).

[My Good Babushka]

5. The pissy and snide part of me

wants someone to suggest that George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice attend talks with Putin. There has been so much talk about how "strong" Bush was compared to the "weakness" of Obama, completely forgetting how naive Bush was in his dealings with Putin, from the time he "got a sense of his soul" up until Putin marched troops into Georgia. But that's just the petty side of me.

The best thing to do is put in a lot of humanitarian aid to Kiev. No one is going to march over or dislodge a U.S. humanitarian campaign in the Ukraine with the world watching.

[bemildred]

6. Obama's "weakenss" is the Neocons doing.

They way overplayed our hand, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, as one can now easily see. It is stupid to pick fights you cannot win.

[malthaussen]

8. "Hey, didja see the hockey game last night?" "It sucked." n/t