Putin Blames Bush for Gas War

Who's responsible for the dispute between Russia and Ukraine that threatened to cut off Western Europe's supply of natural gas? Why former President Bush, of course. That, at least, is what Vladimir Putin alleged in an interview with Bloomberg. Putin cited Bush's support of NATO membership for Ukraine and his desire to build a missile defense site in Poland as his reasons—"What happened in recent years in Ukraine is the result, to a significant extent, of the activities of the previous U.S. administration and the European Union, which supported it." Putin went on to say that he was "cautiously optimistic" about President Obama, and that he welcomed the new president's stated ambivalence over the missile defense project in Poland.