Emile Simpson: Give Putin a way out
Over the past several weeks, Russia has built up 17 battalions - totaling 19,000 to 21,000 troops, according to one Western estimate - into a battle-ready force of infantry, armor, artillery and air defense within a few miles of the border.
Massed on Ukraine's border today stand 20,000 Russian troops, some apparently wearing a blue peacekeepers' uniform with the "MC" insignia. This could be seen as a replay of April, when Russia positioned 45,000 men on the frontier, which after a tense stand-off was reduced to only 1,000 personnel by June. But today the pro-Russian separatists aren't ascendent; they're losing badly to the Ukrainian military.
