| Mr. J F’n Kerry has a hammer. |
[Washington Times] The White House’s international climate envoy, John Kerry, warned Russia to not lose sight of the bigger need to combat climate change as it targets Ukraine.
Mr. Kerry, a former secretary of state, told BBC News earlier this week that it was important for Russian President Vladimir Putin and other global leaders to remain committed to lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
"I hope diplomacy will win ... but equally importantly, you’re going to lose people’s focus, you’re going to lose, certainly big country attention," Mr. Kerry said. "I think hopefully, President Putin would realize that in the northern part of his country, they used to live on 66% of ... frozen land. Now it’s thawing and his infrastructure is at risk, and the people of Russia are at risk."
"I hope President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate," Mr. Kerry added
The comments were made on the same day that Russia recognized two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent states. As part of the maneuver, Mr. Putin sent in Russian troops on a "peacekeeping" mission, despite warnings from the U.S. and its NATO allies.
Military analysts say the decision to recognize the breakaway areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, which have been controlled by Russia-backed separatists since 2014, was little more than a bureaucratic pretext to invade Ukraine. 
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