Today I'm talking with Michael McFaul - a former adviser of Barack Obama and the US ambassador of Russia who is now coordinator of the working group on sanctions against Russia. We discussed the scandal surrounding the film “Navalny”, the sanctions against Mikhail Fridman and other oligarchs. McFaul also spoke about how Putin accused him of organizing protests on Bolotnaya and how Obama persuaded Medvedev to release Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

00:00 - the film "Navalny" and Oscar
07:54 - are the Ukrainians right who call Navalny an imperialist?
10:14 - the responsibility of the Russian people for the war in Ukraine
14:34 - sanctions against Fridman and Aven
17:12 - criteria of sanctions list
21:00 - can Putin save time by waiting for the US presidential election
24:24 - Russia and the struggle between the US and China
28:27 - why Georgia does not release Saakashvili
32:48 - "Reset” policy - was it a mistake or a lost chance
45:16 - could Medvedev have fired Putin?


Photo credit of Michael McFaul - Yuriy Kochetkov