Roger Altman Quotes

[Vladimir] Putin trampled on international rules and sovereignty of the Ukraine.

Putin sought to destabilize Ukraine's economy.

On Putin's order, Russian security services try to destabilize NATO allies the U.S. has sworn to defend.

With regards to Trump's treatment of Putin and Russia, national security experts and journalists have been citing the fact pattern and saying there's something strange going on.

Everyone knows: if Russia threatens Ukraine and also has its sights on other states, this concerns the global security of Europe.

And most worryingly, it wouldn't surprise me if Putin ends up starting a major military conflict with the West at some point in the future to save his own skin as head of state in Russia.

we are dealing with a return to what might be a far more normal relationship between the West and Russia. Russia is what it is that we see. It's not dressed up in its birthday costume. It is what it is. It regards its national interests as important enough to fight for. And the difference on the whole Ukraine situation is that the Russians are prepared to fight for their position on Ukraine, and the West is not.

Putin himself is a bit of a risk taker, so the invading Ukraine, in the east in particular - Crimea was risky.

Donald Trump seems to be unconcerned about the Russian aggression in Ukraine. By doing this he tells them that they can go ahead and do what they are doing. That is dangerous.

America is always fighting. We're the one that wants to go to World War III with Russia over Ukraine. So we're the ones always fighting. We're the ones putting up a lot of the money for NATO disproportionately - a lot.

Russia committed an act of aggression in Ukraine, and that's the first time since 1945 a European country has seized the territory of another European country. That's serious business. They started a war with their neighbor. Their troops as well as the separatists funded and controlled by Russia are killing people just about every day.

We are living in a new ice age, and we need to apply the recipes of the Cold War to the Kremlin. That means isolation instead of offers of negotiation. And Ukraine should have been supplied with weapons long ago.

The image of Russian troops pouring into Ukraine and encircling military units in Crimea has been a wake-up call that will reverberate for a generation.

After all the sacrifice in Afghanistan and Iraq, why do we find ourselves in a more dangerous world?

The Ukrainians don't have the military means to stand up to Russia, but we haven't helped them militarily, either.

We see considerable strain in Russia, and that's obviously a matter of concern to us. It's in the very strong self-interest of Russia to continue on the reform path.

Other than being crazy enough to press a button, there is nothing that Putin can do militarily to fundamentally alter American interests.

You can't give Russia the right to interfere with the internal affairs of counties in its area.... You have to drive up the cost to Russia for aggression.

One of the most dangerous moments to world stability will come when some day Russian rule begins to crumble in the eastern European area. The Kremlin may then feel itself seriously threatened internally and may resort to desperate measures

Trump himself has not laid out a clear agenda on the national security issues that are the most pressing for the United States, from the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan to the deepening Syrian civil war to the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and the flexing of Russian muscles under President Vladimir Putin.

I think my biggest fear is having another global war which might have been a result of sharing the primary commodities in the world.

On Russia, President Trump reverses the weakness of Obama, who turned a blind eye as Putin marched into Crimea and Ukraine by hitting Putin where it hurts - on energy.

If I meet Putin, I'll say to him: 'So you've finally given us back our territory, how much more are you ready to give as compensation money for taking away our land and helping those who took part in the escalation in Crimea and Donbass?'

If someone is undertaking aggressive military activities in Ukraine and Syria, if someone is bolstering his military presence near his neighbors... then we have an unequivocal answer regarding who wants to start a new Cold War. Certainly, it is not Poland or the NATO alliance.

On the global scale, if there's a shaky Middle East, there's a shaky world.