Fiona Hill (presidential advisor) quotes
Putin was personally angered by events in Libya and the death of President Mammar Qaddafi at the hands of rebels as Qaddafi tried to flee Tripoli after NATO's intervention in the civil war there. In Putin's view (again expressed openly in his public addresses and in interviews), the United States was now responsible for a long sequence of revolutions close to Russia's borders and in countries with close ties to Moscow.
Fiona Hill (presidential advisor)
Our problem is that we do not fully understand Putin's calculus, just as he does not understand ours. In Putin's view, the United States, the European Union and NATO have launched an economic and proxy war in Ukraine to weaken Russia and push it into a corner. As Valery Gerasimov, chief of staff of the Russian armed forces, has underscored, this is a hybrid, 21st-century conflict, in which financial sanctions, support for oppositional political movements and propaganda have all been transformed from diplomatic tools to instruments of war. Putin likely believes that any concession or compromise he makes will encourage the West to push further.
Fiona Hill (presidential advisor)
Putin firmly opposes U.S. policy toward Syria and the threat of force against Iran. But his opposition stems neither from anti-Americanism nor a desire to back the Iranian mullahs or Syria's Bashar al-Assad in their struggles with the West. It is rooted in his obsession with stability. Helping Tehran secure a nuclear weapon and keeping Assad in Damascus are not Putin's goals. But an Israeli or U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear sites, and NATO or the United Nations intervening in Syria to forcibly remove Assad, would increase global volatility.
Fiona Hill (presidential advisor)
