Barry Pavel, vice president and director of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, is quoted by the Associated Press on Russia’s occupation of Crimea:
Barry Pavel, who worked on the White House National Security Council under both Obama and President George W. Bush, said reasserting control of Crimea may be even more important to Russia than the Georgian territories.
“Russian nationalists consider this to be practically Russian territory,” said Pavel, who now serves as vice president of the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. “The chances of Russian forces ever leaving where they are are very low.”