What is Putin up to?

Following the G20 Summit in Brisbane the temperature in the relationship with the Russian bear is getting much colder. What is Putin up to? Since the collapse of the Russian empire some 25 years ago it has felt that it has not been treated with the respect it deserves. Perhaps he has a point? Nevertheless he is not doing the things that will garner him more respect by his behaviour in the Ukraine. Destabilising this part of the world is putting the rest of the EU under pressure. The west feels increasingly fearful of what is going on. Is the west right to feel uneasy or is it just bluster on his part? The problem is that we don't really know or understand his motivation and what his goals are? John Kampfner in The Guardian today is pessimistic about the immediate prospects of a happy relationship with Putin - it will take many more years before we have thaw in the Russian winter. John Simpson of the BBC News agreed with this assessment in a recent broadcast.