US, Russia keep from escalating conflict after Syrian strike | Interview with Kimberly Marten

(PBS) Russian President Putin on Saturday condemned a series of strikes on Syrian targets, calling the military action by the U.S. and its allies “an act of aggression against a sovereign state.” Kimberly Marten, director of a program on U.S.-Russia relations at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, joins Hari Sreenivasan for more on Russia’s reaction means and what may come next.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

The Kremlin immediately condemned the trilateral attack on Syria last night. A statement from Russian President Putin called the missile strikes “an act of aggression against a sovereign state” that is having a devastating impact on the whole system of international relations. Mr. Putin also said the attack would exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Joining me now to sort out what the Russian rhetoric means and what may come next is Kimberly Marten a professor of political science at Barnard College and the director of the program on U.S. Russia relations at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute. So how are we to square the statements that we had from the Russian embassy in the U.S. last night posted their Facebook page with what President Putin is calling for with the actual military actions that haven’t happened?

KIMBERLY MARTEN:

I think we have a look at what’s actually been happening on the ground, it’s cause to have a lot of confidence that both sides are actually trying to tamp down the situation and make sure that it doesn’t escalate beyond the current situation. So we know that the U.S. had and the British and the French had some contact with the Russians in advance using the Syria deconfliction line to maybe reassure the Russians that no Russian installations in Syria would be hit. We know from the Russian side that they did not activate their own missile defense systems and so it just is an indication that the deconfliction line is working. That at least the military’s on both sides want to keep the crisis limited even though the rhetoric coming from politicians in Russia has been a lot stronger.