News Analysis: In Brittney Griner Deal, Putin Used Pain, a Familiar Lever

By seizing Brittney Griner, President Vladimir Putin of Russia made things so painful for the U.S. that it capitulated and turned over a convicted arms dealer. Putin’s actions in Ukraine increasingly echo the same strategy.

He is bombarding Ukrainian energy infrastructure. He is threatening the E.U. with a new wave of refugees as he chokes off gas exports. And he is betting that the West, even after showing far more unity in support of Ukraine than he appears to have expected, will eventually tire of the fight and its economic ill effects. Read more

@nytimes