Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Nat Brown: Could economic troubles doom Putin’s plans?
Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks to journalists in the Belarus capital Minsk, on April 29, 2014, after attending a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council .
As oil prices have dropped dramatically over the past month, Russia has been one of the nations hurting most. In fact, it's possible that collapsing prices, combined with a raft of other economic problems, may be enough to force Vladimir Putin to back off of his domination of eastern Ukraine - which has begun to feel almost permanent just eight months after the annexation of Crimea.