Russia Didn't Imagine Things Would Go This Bad

Moscow just can't catch a break. Last month, the Kremlin was shifting the discussion on Ukraine away from Russia's involvement towards Ukraine's noncompliance with the Minsk Accords, and preliminary discussions were underway among European Union ministers to examine whether the sanctions imposed on Russia might be open to modification or suspension. In Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were promoting the idea of a joint Russian-American effort to craft a political solution to Syria's civil war and to increased intelligence sharing to target Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. It appeared that Vladimir Putin was succeeding in his efforts to highlight Russia's role as a responsible state actor in the international system—and to put the unpleasantness of the last several years behind him.