"The Putin regime needs an end to sanctions-not because they are crippling in themselves but because, in combination with the growing crisis of the economy and the unpredictable trajectory of the war [in eastern Ukraine], they could help lead to the destabilization of Russia.... It is a measure of the government's concern that it has cut the price of vodka. ... This is a transparent attempt to use vodka to tranquilize the population."-David Sat-ter, Soviet-Russian expert, op-ed in Wall Street Journal, Feb. 3. "The last time the [Obama] Administration made a diplomatic overture [to North Korea] in early 2012, the North responded with a ballistic missile launch, so we wouldn't be surprised if this latest attempt at a rapprochement ends the same way. That is all the more reason for the US to abandon 21 years of failed North Korean diplomacy and adopt a policy of regime change through coercive financial sanctions, support for North Korean refugees and dissidents, and enhanced deterrence on the Korean Peninsula. This is the only policy that will denuclearize the North."-House editorial about White House effort to restart nuclear talks with Pyongyang, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 3.
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