MH17 Crash is a Game Changer, Says Kross
IRL politician and security expert Eerik-Niiles Kross said it is too early to tell how the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines flight will affect the Ukraine crisis, but there are a number of reasons it will have an impact.
Kross told Postimees today that the world's eyes will again be on Ukraine as politicians and the media are forced to find the guilty party, and the deaths of hundreds of Europeans and Australians have brought new critics of Russia's policies.
The Netherlands, which lost 189 of citizens in the crash, had been less critical of Russia's activities in Ukraine and Australia, 27 dead, which had stayed out of the conflict, are both likely to join Eastern European nations in blaming Russia and calling for Russia to withdraw its aid to the separatists.
Kross said Russia is now forced to change its tactics in Ukraine, and it will be hard to imagine Russia continuing to shoot down Ukrainian air force aircraft and sending more tanks to eastern Ukraine, allowing Ukrainian forces to gather even more momentum, forcing Russia to look towards other territories, such as Odessa and Transnistria, in its expansionist policy.