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Chancellor Merkel visits Latvia in August 2014 and calls for a "persistent NATO presence" in the Baltic states. Merkel also visits Ukraine for talks with Ukrainian leaders. Germany is also mediating in the crisis and helped to arrange a meeting between Russian president Putin and Ukraine president Poroshenko in Belarus.

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The new bipartisan sanctions on Russia agreement in the U.S. Congress has the support of key senators, McConnell and Corker on the Republican side, Schumer and Cardin on the Democratic side. The agreement would impose new sanctions on Russia and provide for a mandated congressional review. This follows Russian meddling in the U.S. 2016 election and cyberattacks. This measure is being considered as a sanctions bill on Iran is being passed.

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Russia is excluded for the second year for the G-7 Summit meeting of leaders in Berlin, in June 2015. The exclusion follows Russian intervention in Ukraine.

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This article describes the increasing cooperation between Finland, Sweden and Norway. Compatibility between Swedish forces has been improved to the point that a Swedish squadron can easily be integrated into a NATO led operation. This improves NATO capabilities in the Baltic region as Russia expands its military presence. Sweden is officially neutral, yet its values and security challenges are the same as that of the rest of Europe.

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Merkel prods Russia to follow Germany's example as she lands in Kiev on the 75th anniversary of the nonaggression pact signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Merkel said: "That today a German chancellor can be here shows what has happened... We want countries to be able to freely decide their political direction. We no longer participate, as the Federal Republic of Germany, in stirring up historical misery, and that is a good development of history." Russia badly needs to find a new place in a new world rather than stir up memories from the Soviet or Tsarist period, just as Germany has done in the period since 1945 with chancellors Adenauer, Brandt, down to Merkel and president Gauck today. The world today is very different from the period when Merkel grew up in the German Democratic Republic and Putin lived as a KGB officer in Dresden, Germany. Even more so as the manner of living in urban areas in different parts of the world, business, industry, the arts, culture, products is increasingly converging, with higher expectations. ...

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This WSJ editorial says the IMF must help Ukraine with emergency financing, and the U.S. and Germany need to offer long term economic assistance.

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Russia's largest trading partner is China with $51.8 billion imports from China and $35.7 billion in exports. Netherlands is the largest destination for Russian exports with $76.8 billion, with Germany second at $35.6 billion, Italy third at $32.4 billion. Russian imports from Germany are $38.3 billion, followed by Japan at $15.7 billion, and the U.S. at $15.3 billion. Sources are the Russian State Statistics Service and the German Federal Foreign Office.

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The protests over the Ukrainian government's decision not to sign an accord with the European Union in 2013.

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This behind the scenes account  shows how the NATO communique with policy declaration was prepared by July 6 before European leaders and Mr. Trump set foot in Brussels on July 11. It shows to what lengths key members in the Trump administration will go to achieve American objectives in preserving the NATO alliance. Particularly now that Russia is taking an aggressive stance to NATO near its borders.  General Mattis at Defense Department pushed for the 4 30's initiative which is about preparing a rapid deployment force to be ready by 2020. This is in the communique. Also in the communique is the setup of a command post in Norfolk, Virginia, ready to act to deploy forces in Europe. U.S. ambassador to NATO, Kailey Hutchinson, received the demand from National Security Adviser Bolton to have ambassadors from all countries work overtime to get the declaration done by July 6. Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General supported this effort. All were concerned that there should be no repeat of the mess that happened for the G-7 communique when at the last minute president Trump refused to sign on, leading to derisive comments about Canada's Justin Trudeau. It was seen as critical to preserve the sense of unity in the U.S. alliance with Europe. This time there was no disruption even though Mr. Trump acted unpredictably in Brussels. ...

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The gradual collapse of pro-Russian separatists as most of the Russians in the separatist effort withdraw and leave for Russia. The Ukraine forces move into separatist held areas near Donetsk in August 2014. German chancellor Merkel accepts an invitation to visit Kiev and visits Latvia, taking a larger role in resolving the crisis. Merkel speaks Russian and Putin speaks German, in ongoing discussions between the two leaders.

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This WSJ editorial in September 2014 describes the Russian threat to the NATO alliance and the nations bordering Russia in Eastern Europe. This follows the Russian army's intervention in the Ukraine-Russia border regions in the end of August and early September 2014.

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This editorial opinion in BBC News points to a Russian miscalculation on how its involvement in the U.S. elections would be seen in the U.S. Congress. The U.S. Congress voted for stronger sanctions on Russia with only 5 members in the Senate and the House of Representatives voting against sanctions- an overwhelming vote in favor of sanctions. This means future policy on Russia will be determined by the U.S. Congress, and with bipartisan support for such policies. President Trump reluctantly signed the bill, saying it took away from executive authority. Russia had hoped its efforts in favor of Trump would lead to an easing of sanctions, not grasping the role of Republicans in Congress who see interference in the democratic process in the U.S. in the same way as Democrats.

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Tougher sanctions on Russia in July 2014 with the addition of Moscow Bank, VTB Bank. Sberbank was not added but other steps limit its access to financing in European financial markets. The limited access to international capital means banks and other companies will have to turn to the government for financing. Growth was estimated at 3.8% and lowered by the IMF to 0.2% in its latest forecast for 2014. It could turn negative, showing the impact both of the emerging markets crisis in early 2014, compounded by the crisis in Ukraine in the second quarter on the Russian economy.

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A look at the views of Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia and Strobe Talbott, a State Department advisor, on how the Obama administration missed signals of a more assertive policy from Russia during the period Medvedev was president. At the time Medvedev offered a softer tone from Russia and the U.S. extended cooperation. With the return of Putin as president for a second term, his more strident views on the role of Russia in the world following the collapse of the Soviet Union have emerged, especially in tems of policies in Syria and Ukraine.