To the wire - A war waging on two fronts

With war being waged on two fronts — by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine and Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria where Irish troops are in the eye of the storm — today it all comes down to the wire for Nato allies and US president Barak Obama. 

In what promises to be the ultimate test of America’s resolve to face down the threat posed by Russian president Vladimir Putin, Obama arrives in Estonia. For now, that’s as close as they get to eye-balling one another. The burning question is who will blink first?

From the relative safety of a summit in Wales, the Nato alliance can be expected to rattle its sabres in the most crucial meeting of the alliance since the Cold War. Otherwise, it is hard to see what cash-strapped Nato can do. While Obama talks of diplomacy, Putin defiantly flouts every law in the book, invading Ukraine and arming rebel fighters.