Kremlin-funded media are careful to refer to Carter Page as Donald “Trump ex-adviser” but the coverage they are giving to Page’s current visit to Moscow is certainly not that accorded a person whose influence and role are in the past. Page himself is strongly implying that his visit is of relevance for the immediate future. That makes his statements about the supposed ‘narrative’ on Crimea, Ukraine in general and about sanctions, chilling.
Since there is nothing in Page’s statement about the reason for the sanctions, it is well to recall that the first sanctions were imposed over Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea in February and March 2014. These were extremely mild and the threat of harsher sanction remained largely words throughout the following months as Russia armed, manned and financed military conflict in eastern Ukraine. Tougher sanctions were imposed after a Russian-produced BUK missile downed Malaysian airliner MH17 over the Kremlin-backed militant-controlled area on July 17, 2014. It is generally believed that the sanctions were instrumental in curbing Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
