soviet bloc countries. what vladimir putin would like to do is either to gain control of some of these former warsaw pact countries, or see a friendly government supported from within. so he's trying to reconstitute in a piecemeal fashion as a security buffer for his own country. these boundaries, however, were settled after the cold war. so it's important that continue. we support our nato troops on the eastern flank of europe so those countries receive the sort of support they need, and we impose the most severe sanctions that we have ever imposed. certainly in my lifetime. and we're preparing for that right now. i wish we had been able to move more quickly and with some of our major allies. but make no mistake. what is at stake here is not just in ukraine. there are other maligned leaders