Vladimir Putin's call for pro-Moscow separatists to postpone an independence referendum in eastern Ukraine shows the Russian president has achieved as much as he can for now without taking the potentially catastrophic step of sending in troops.
The Russian president's assertion that he has withdrawn forces from the Ukraine border — the White House says it has seen no evidence of this — was a clear sign that he wants to take the heat out of what has become the worst East-West row since the Cold War.
It may also indicate that the Russian economy, on the brink of recession, is feeling the pain of the Western sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis. Analysts predict the separatists will heed Putin's call to postpone Sunday's vote.