While relations between the Kremlin and Oval Office have never been worse in the post-cold war era, a new conflict has been reignited between Vladimir Putin and the man many have accused of being the mastermind behind the European refugee crisis: billionaire George Soros, who is also one of the more prominent supporters of Hillary Clinton.

After Russia previously banned the operation of Soros' Open Society Foundation in Russia last November saying it was a "threat to the foundations of Russia’s Constitutional order and national security", Soros took the opportunity to respond by writing a rare post on his website, in which he condemned Russia's bombing campaign in Syria, accusing President Putin of exploiting the chaos and power void in the White House ahead of the upcoming U.S. presidential elections. Relying on an analysis by the NYT, Soros suggested that “Putin calculates that the departing President Obama will be unlikely to intervene in the escalating Syrian conflict and a new American president who might consider a tougher policy will not yet be in office…The next American president will face a new reality and will be forced to accept it."

As the WaPo reported recently, a proposed escalation by various disgruntled members of the Pentagon to dispatch a US military presence in Syria, or launch an air strike campaign against Assad, has so far not gotten much traction with Obama, suggesting that Putin's gambit may be working.

In his statement, the billionaire liberal also said that Russian planes were bombing the civilian population of Aleppo to assist Syrian government forces on the ground. "I appeal to the people of Russia, Europe, and the rest of the world not to stand idly by, but to spread the word and voice their outrage. An outpouring of public opinion could induce President Putin to put an end to his heinous crimes against humanity."

To be sure, this script is familiar and was tried in the summer of 2013 when as a result of a fabricated YouTube video showcasing a "chemical attack" by the Assad regime, there was a full-blown media assault seeking to leigitimize a US intervention in Syria, which almost led to war between Russia and the US in July and August of that year, before John Kerry luckily relented in the last moment and prevented what may have been a world war.

We are now back in the same situation, and we can only hope that like three years ago, war will once again be averted. We can also hope that the unexpected and vocal intervention of billionaires with globalist ambitions does not prove to be the one catalyst that escalates the situation to a point from which there is no return.

Here is Soros' full article slamming Putin: