NEW YORK, August 31,/ITAR-TASS/. U.S. Administration ought to have direct discussions with President Vladimir Putin over the crisis in Ukraine, as sanctions will unlikely have any serious effect on the Russian people, given their resolve and ability to withstand hardships, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday.
“I think there are to be some direct discussions with Vladimir Putin,” she said in an interview aired by NBC television.
Sen. Feinstein called Putin “singular figure in Russia,” adding that Russia is a huge country. “Ukraine is a large country and the Crimea is gone,” she added.
“I think there ought to be steps taken to send people to talk with him, to have our Secretary of
State (John Kerry) talk with him personally,” Sen. Feinstein said.
She indicated that Putin enjoyed what she described as “intensely high favorability in his country.”
“People say, well, just wait till the sanctions bite and the economy slips,” Sen. Feinstein said. “I don’t think so.”
She stressed the fact the Russians were following their President. “ up to date they are following him. The Russians are very brave and very long-suffering and they will tough out any economic difficulty.”
In the light of it, she said she was not sure about the possible impact of the sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and the EU.
“I’m not sure they will work,” Sen. Feinstein said. “I’m not sure this will shake the people that much. And it’s the people that have to be spoken to and it’s the solitary leader, Vladimir Putin, who has to be spoken to.