George Kennan who authored containment of the USSR warned about how bad this Clinton decision was that it would end up angering the Russians and so here were are heading for World War III and or Armageddon.
Pathetic.
Kennan died in 2005. I don't think he could have had much to say about the relations between Putin and the West after that. He was, however, right about a lot of things Russian, including the simple fact that Russia cannot be changed, only contained. As closely as possible need not be said, no matter how Rumpelstiltskin-like they behave.