When Russia seized the Crimea, it seemed that Vladimir Putin was the great impaler of Western hubris, exposing a decadent reluctance to back angry splutterings with anything more than pen strokes from accountants imposing limited economic sanctions.
Now, as the leaders of the seven biggest economies gather in Brussels to discuss a new era of strategic isolation of Russia, it looks as though Vlad may be impaled on his own ambition.
Mr Putin's overarching desire over the past 10 years has been to establish a Eurasian economic and political zone dominated by the Kremlin, extending from the far "Stans" of the former Soviet empire to the Baltic.
His rage at Ukraine's flirtation with the EU and the revolution in Kiev provoked both the annexation of the Crimea and the subsequent, more bloody, destabilisation of eastern Ukraine by the Kremlin's proxies and agents.
The West's response has been criticised for being slow and flaccid.
Europe has been disorganised, with some 61 entities and individuals now on an EU sanctions list.
President Obama raises his glass at a toast during dinner on Tuesday night But a wider industry-specific series of trade embargoes that could emasculate Russia's economy remains a mere threat as Europe, with some $350bn (£209bn) worth of trade with Russia, has much to lose.
But there is now an audible snarl to be heard from behind the grumblings of the West.
This week, President Obama announced an extra $1bn (£598bn) in military spending for Europe with the money to be spent not only inside Nato but also on Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
These three already face Kremlin-backed insurgencies that have sliced off territory and undermined weak economies.
It has been argued - probably rightly - that all three destabilisation campaigns were the direct consequence of these formerly Kremlin-controlled countries, cosying up to Moscow's great rivals in Europe and the US.
The lesson is that the Russian bear will bite if it is baited at the threshold of its lair.
This is not, it would appear, a lesson that the West is prepared to learn from Mr Putin.
Mr Putin on Monday attending a ceremony celebrating big families Mr Obama's military initiative, proposed on the eve of the G7 summit, was timed to put some steel behind discussions on how to get Moscow to stop interfering in Ukraine.
Petro Poroshenko, the new Ukrainian president, will be a much honoured observer and guest of the G7.
He'll return to his inauguration on Saturday and has pledged to fast-track the very treaty of association with the EU that so enraged Mr Putin last year. Close cooperation between Ukraine and Nato is to be stepped up.
G7 members will discuss energy strategy. The focus will be on "greening" the planet, and weaning the West off Russia's petrochemicals.
Moscow sells 80% of its oil and gas to Europe. It needs those exports to survive, Europe can and will start diversifying its source of power.
That these issues are coming to a head on the anniversaries of the D-Day landings is coincidental, but convenient. The message is clear - the West has seen the threat and is beginning to face it.
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