Putin doing little to escape ‘last chance saloon’ over Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in the "last chance saloon" over the Ukraine crisis, but appears to be doing little to get out of it.

Since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was brought down over east Ukraine, Putin has been under intense international pressure to persuade pro-Russian separatists accused by the West of shooting it down to stop fighting.

However, for now he seems more intent on bluffing his way through than on trying to use this pivotal moment to emerge as a peacemaker by ending a conflict that has caused the worst tensions with the West since the Cold War.