Former Ambassador To Russia Argues For Tough Response To Crimea

In a recent New York Times opinion piece titled "Confronting Putin's Russia," former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul argues for a strong approach to Putin.

He says sanctions won't get Russia to leave Crimea. "We cannot say how long the current autocratic government in Russia will endure," McFaul wrote. "But a sober, realistic strategy to confront this new threat will help to shorten the tragic era we just entered."

McFaul recently left his ambassadorship in Moscow, after two years of defending the Obama administration's attempts to "reset" its relationship with Russia.

McFaul joins Here & Now's Robin Young to discuss what he thinks future U.S. - Russia relations will look like.

"I have to say honestly this is a tragic era, this is a very sad moment for me," McFaul said. "Because as an ambassador, as a White House official, and different ways through out my career, I've believed in and tried to help that integration process of Russia, of Russia into the West."

In the future, McFaul thinks the U.S.-Russia relationship will see "a long period of confrontation, zero-sum thinking, [and] cooperation when we have important, vital national security interests."