When Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama addressed the UN General Assembly within hours of each other on September 27, their eerily prescient words foreshadowed two months of geopolitical intrigue.
“Dangerous currents risk pulling us back into a darker, more disordered world,” warned Obama, who openly condemned Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for Bashar Al-Assad in Syria.
Putin, who spoke second, offered a different version of events. “We think it’s an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face to face,” he said, referring to the Islamic State.
“We cannot allow these criminals who have already felt the smell of blood to return back home and continue their evil doings,” the Russian president added. “No one wants this to happen, does he?”