James Clapper: “It's inconceivable to me that the Russian intelligence services aren't aware of this, and that Putin has certainly at…”

I think it has more to do with the psychology of Putin, and Russia. And he needs to assure his own people, Parliamentarians, he was talking to, and for that matter, himself, that Russia is still a great power.

No, I don't. The Chinese setup is that there is a Polit bureau member who is the overseer -- the senior overseer on behalf of the Polit bureau for the entirety of the Intelligence and Security apparatus of China.

I think this reflects Russian insecurity. And it's almost like, Putin needs a rhetorical security blanket, of making threats, like this.

I think the reason they were taken off the list was to provide an inducement or motivation for them to agree to some sort of ceasefire.