but if that happens and its escalates and there s fighting and an action reaction process, then putin will be tempted to act because he said, i m going to protect russian citizens, russians, not russian citizens, russians living abroad. that s the scenario that scares me the most. when the national security advisor susan rice was asked the russian military exercises that are going on right near the ukraine and russia, she essentially scoffed, and said we don t think those are just military exercises, essentially being skeptical about what s going on there, that that may be a planned invasion. we saw earlier things on the eve of crimea. moreover, these are act ticks of coercion, these are tactics of threats. the russians still want to
adviser susan ris was asked about the russian military exercises that are going on right near the ukraine and russia, she essentially scoffed and she said we don t think those are just military exercises, essentially being skeptical about what s going on there, that may be a planned invasion. we saw earlier things on the eve of crimea. moreover, these are act ticks of coercion, these are tactics of threats. the russians still want to destabilize ukraine, of course, that s part of their objective right now. and this is part of their strategy. michael mcphal, former ambassador to russia, thanks for being with us tonight. it s nice to have you here. we ll be right back. not just a start up. an upstart. gotta get going. gotta be good.
and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. (music) defiance is in our bones. defiance never grows old. citracal maximum. calcium citrate plus d. highly soluble, easily absorbed. coming up, we read between the lines what is behind russia s snatching of crimea. it is time for the stories you can t stop buzz being on social media in a segment we call we the tweeple. the search for flight 370 has many of you pitching in to help find the authorities find the missing planes. digital globe environment you to
u.s. and eu decided the referendum to rejoin russia is something of a red line. we re making it clear there are consequences for their actions. those costs are real. announcing sanctions on two dozen ukrainian officials. on the list, a close aid to putin, one of his advisors, members of russian parliament, prime minister of crimea and russia s deputy prime minister that tweeted to president barack obama . or you didn t think about it? it s true the effect was hard to define. britain and germany described it as a statement. for the u.s., russia isn t a trading partner. many russians have bought property in america. investment is done offshore through identities. identifying the investor is incredibly difficult.
country is moving towards europe. that s a foreign policy disaster for putin so i know this is not his end game. the white house list of those being sanctioned includes three aides to putin, the former president of ukraine, yanukovych, as well as the man who claims to be the prime minister of crimea. but putin himself is not listed there. i think ultimately we re sending the right message. we re giving putin a clear indication that we re going to move forward on crippling sanctions and i think he now understands the reality of how serious the united states and europe takes this. a lot of the questions, as you know, jake, over the coming weeks is going to be whether europe is going to walk lock step with us. when you start moving on the next round of sanctions which is against russian banks and petro chemical companies, there will be real economic hurt but nothing compared to the hurt that will come five years from