US State Department

A top-ranking US diplomat in charge of sanctions says he understands the Lithuanian decision to refuse access to Russian "ropagandists," although the bans are not practiced by Washington.

Someone recently described the recent terrorist attacks in Paris as designed in Syria and developed in Brussels. It may very well be. Meanwhile Moscow monitors and actively exploits every turn of the conflict.

President Barack Obama, during his State of the Union address to the American Congress on Tuesday night, spoke about the situation in Ukraine. He advocated the use of diplomacy to uphold the principle that bigger nations cannot bully the small.

Daniel Fried, coordinator for sanctions policy at the US State Department, says that it will take time before the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and the European Union begin showing tangible results, but they undoubtedly will.