US-Russia Standoff: Washington Wants 'Open Conflict or Cold War'

The United States hardliners appear to be dragging the country to a point of no return when only two scenarios with regard to Russia will remain possible, a stalemate or a catastrophe, warns foreign affairs expert Patrick L. Smith.

"Either we are on the near side of open conflict between two great powers, accidental or purposeful and probably but not necessarily on Ukrainian soil, or we are in for a re-rendering of the Cold War that will endure as long as the original," Smith asserted.
Ukraine is at the heart of this process.
It did not have come to this. On the contrary, the Obama administration seemed to have come to its senses when State Secretary John Kerry came to Sochi in May. The visit could have marked the moment when the US finally accepted the peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict as the only viable option.