I just completed my first interview (by skype) on Russia
Today TV. They were very polite and professional. They wanted to know my views
on the UN speeches of Putin and Obama, and whether a coalition could be formed
to fight ISIS . I replied that Russia ’s desire
to keep Assad in power would be a stumbling block. I was then asked about the
movement to eliminate the veto of certain security council member (directed
against Russia
for its veto of a criminal tribunal for MH17). The moderator then turned to
sanctions to ask whether they were an effective mechanism. I replied that the
Russian sanctions have been mild and were imposed because of the annexation of
Crimea, MH17, and the introduction of regular Russian troops into southeast Ukraine starting
in August. The moderator interrupted to say that there was no evidence of
regular Russian forces in southeast Ukraine and declared that we had
run out of time.
Maybe we had run out of time or my response on regular
Russian forces went over their line. We’ll see if this comment is in the edited
version.
