Here’s President Obama on Friday: “The United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine.”Characteristically, Obama establishes a few degrees of separation between himself and actually acting. He doesn’t say, straightforwardly, that the United States will lead the international community in imposing costs for any military intervention in Ukraine. No. The United States will “stand with” others in “affirming” that “there will be costs.”

One suspects that President Putin isn’t very worried about affirmations of future costs by the international community. He’s seen Bashar al-Assad survive similar affirmations. Putin, like Assad, understands actions, not affirmations.