I am certainly not blaming the victim, but the Russian response was both predictable and expected. Are you arguing that there has not been an escalation in these types of despicable attacks? Call it whatever you want. Both parties involved are incredibly stupid not to allow President Trump to help them work out a deal.
The intransigent party is Putin! Look at just this week’s comments by both POTUS and SOS. Putin’s position hasn’t changed, give us everything we want, no compromise.