Russia Eyes Greece As The Greek Debt Crisis Continues

Daily Mail: Greece, the front line of Putin's new cold war: As 'Grexit' looms, a leading historian argues the imperialist Russian leader sees a chance to swoop

* Energy-rich Russia is eyeing the Balkans as a strategic battleground as the country reaches crisis point
* Putin is offering region a lucrative gas pipeline and other incentives to draw it away from the West
* Greece has become one of the exposed nerves in the new Cold War between Washington and Moscow

With all eyes on Athens watching to see if Greece’s government blinks tomorrow in its stand-off with the EU over its debt mountain, let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture.

The Greek crisis is a moment of opportunity for Vladimir Putin’s Russia. As EU partners weary of subsidising Greece, energy-rich Russia is eyeing the Balkans as a strategic battleground. Putin is offering the region the carrot of a lucrative gas pipeline and other incentives to draw countries like Greece and Turkey away from the West.

Update: Putin: Russian pipeline project to help Greece pay its debt -- AP

WNU Editor: Forget about what Russia may do .... the real winners are the Chinese (plus a few Russian and German companies) .... German, Russian and Chinese companies race to buy up Greek infrastructure (Newsweek)