the message. this is all in their minds, what they're telling the russian public. this is all western provocation. everything going on now is all part of a grand u.s. conspiracy against russia. probably finland and sweden, if they joined nato, it would be explained to the russian people in the same way. russia has a bias as it approaches the situation. it simply assumes that everyone west of russia is somehow completely under u.s. control. that's just how they see it. so that's why they want to talk directly to the u.s. they don't really want to talk to anyone else. it's very much a bilateral game in their minds. >> i'm sure the u.s. is trying to figure out how they control as much of europe as russia thinks we do. anyway, matt bodner on the ground in what is always a snowy moscow. what does the u.s. government need to know next to keep the russians at bay? is there something they should