THE OLIGARCHS YANK THE CHAIN:

As a testy Putin fielded a few sharp queries and a lot of softballs (and ordered a woman out of the room when her phone rang) what may have been most remarkable was the way he described the drama he's been watching in the Ukraine. [...]        

Putin said there had been no ultimatum for Ukrainian forces to surrender, as was widely reported Monday. He announced Tuesday that the threatening Russian military maneuvers near the Ukrainian border are now over. And even as Putin said he supported Yanukovych, he dissed him. The infamously corrupt president-in-exile has "no political future," Putin said, but had to be taken in by Russia for humanitarian considerations, otherwise he might have been killed.    

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