Russians See Sanctions Regime as a Blessing in Disguise — Sharmini Peries interviews Richard Sakwa

It will stiffen Russian resolve, it will at the moment, it will make even more what is at the moment the view in Moscow, that the United States is a country with which you cannot deal. [foreign language 00:13:06] as they say in Russian.

You can't deal with these people, and I think after these events of this last week, they won't try to deal anymore. In other words, "Okay, on the ground in Syria, and their operations, perhaps we can talk. Ukraine, perhaps we can get a deal," but basically, I think it's a total breakdown of Russia's trust in the ability, not just of Congress, but also of the presidency, to be able to deliver anything substantive. Not just for Russia, but in terms of global public goods, over North Korea, over Iran, over Syria, over Ukraine, and many, many other issues, including global warming.

Where diplomacy fails, the next option is war.

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Russians See Sanctions Regime as a Blessing in Disguise
Sharmini Peries interviews Richard Sakwa is Professor of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent and an Associate Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House