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1. The capital city of Grozny in Chechnya was reduced completely to rubble, and Putin thought this was worthwhile because it kept the state together.
2. The refugee problem is definitely a disaster for the entire region. Putin — the refugee problem in Chechnya was largely contained inside of Russia itself although there were tens of thousands of Chechens who sought refuge across Europe. Putin wasn’t swayed by that issue when it came to Chechnya.
3. The problem in Pankisi is an extension of broader problems throughout Georgia. The whole system is based on shady deals. The entire government is corrupt.
4. The idea is that Putin-Trump would be a win-win for the Kremlin, as they have mutual interests and alliances.
5. I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary, and that Ukraine — not Russia — attacked us in 2016.
6. The Cold War was obviously driven by a very intense ideological struggle that was very clearly defined.
7. There is certainly this widespread anti-Americanism within the Russian elite, a feeling that the U.S. lost any moral high ground it could possibly have because of Iraq, Abu Ghraib, and increasing concern of U.S. intentions locally.
8. The Russians thrive on misinformation and disinformation.
9. People in Washington, D.C., may not be paying that much attention to what’s happening in Chechnya, but people in Riyadh and Amman and elsewhere are.
10. Russia has always been very careful to try to balance the interest of the Gulf states and Iran off against each other.
11. Obama is under incredible pressure to supply arms to Ukraine.
12. Putin has the ability to advance his interests in many different ways. Sometimes tactical diplomacy can help.
13. Chechens need to be able to develop their own viable political society and regional economy whether they remain part of Russia or not.
14. Putin has become the wild card in his own system.
15. I am very confident based on all of the analysis that has been done — and, again, I don’t want to start getting into intelligence matters — that the Ukrainian government did not interfere in our election in 2016.
16. So Putin is not the dictator that he’s often accused of being. He has to be very sensitive to public opinion.
17. The unfortunate truth is that Russia was the foreign power that systematically attacked our democratic institutions in 2016.
18. The real concern for the Russians is that they’re going to get closed out, that there’s gong to be a new ‘Iron Curtain’… for European expansion and all of its institutional forms.
19. We’ve got ourselves into a situation where government service is somehow seen to be a political act rather than an act of civic duty or of public service.
20. And Trump isn’t exactly the most diplomatic of people.