Russia shouldn’t protest too much as its credibility has been destroyed over the last four years by three important events. The unprecedented scale of this week’s expulsions would probably not have been possible, however, in the absence of some country-specific reasons. The expulsions themselves will be easy to parry by the expulsion of western diplomats from Russia. But other financial sanctions, already envisioned in the US sanctions Bill, would be extremely painful for Russia. However, it’s seen very differently in Russia, with Putin just winning another term with the biggest vote ever.

Source: The Irish Times March 28, 2018 00:06 UTC