On COI #223, Joanne Leon, host of the Around the Empire podcast, joins co-hosts Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman to talk about the crisis in U.S.-Russian relations.

The roundtable first covers Washington and NATO’s written responses to Moscow regarding last month’s Russian security proposals. Joanne, Kyle, and Connor then discuss the threat of war, the potential scope of such a war, why Russia is likely no longer concerned about further U.S. sanctions, the role of CIA paramilitaries on the front line, the shutdown of the Ukrainian opposition, as well as the increasing influence of Nazis and Nazi adjacent elements in Ukraine’s power structures.

There is also conversation on the Biden-Putin relationship, the malign influence of the Victoria Nuland circle, and the recently resumed Normandy Format style talks with the Russians, the Ukrainians, the French, and the Germans.