remember, russia assisted donald trump's campaign in 2016. donald trump then responded by trying to shield russia by suggesting maybe ukraine was responsible, and he also tried to pressure the ukrainian president who vladimir putin is now trying to destabilize to dig up dirt on joe biden. the president refused, and of course that resulted in president trump's impeachment. so a big political backdrop to the call in addition to the national security issues. >> it certainly is. you set it up well for us. ambassador, i want you to weigh in. the u.s. is weighing new sanctions against putin's inner circle if russia invades ukraine. how likely do you think it is that russia will invade, and how would you describe the threat level at this point, at this moment? >> so i'd say the threat level is very high because in answer to your first question, it's hard to say. no one can get inside to mr. putin's mind. he's invaded ukraine before. we know he can do it. he can make that decision.