Russia & Eurasia

I do not see any movement on any of the core issues coming out of [the] meeting [between Secretary Pompeo and President Putin]...Given the numbers of competition and conflict between the United States and Russia, this meeting will not move the needle.

What we see is that Trump really gets put in a box on [U.S. policy on Russia]...it is a question of how [he] chooses people, and no one really knows the answer to this.

The reality is that Germany and Austria have left little choice to the United States in terms of stopping [Nord Stream 2], except with sanctions...I think it was the Obama administration that missed the opportunity to get this project stopped...When the annexation of Crimea happened, that was the key moment...When we implemented the sanctions [on Russia for its invasion of Crimea], that’s when we missed the opportunity.

[Maria] Butina was another pawn on the chess board...Lots of people were doing lots of different things, all with the same goal. Butina was...another pathway to possibly reach Trump himself and influence the campaign.

Moscow has been harassing commercial ships bound for Ukraine’s ports in the Sea of Azov for months...The attack on naval vessels now opens a new front in Russia’s four-year aggression against Ukraine, which includes the ongoing land war in Ukraine's east and the occupation of Crimea.