Analysis: Putin launches a war the West saw coming but was powerless to stop

That was the biggest missing piece. The moment you say to Putin that you are not going to fight whatever happens, he has got the upper hand. He was content to take that (sanctions) risk because to him that risk looked calculable," said Jonathan Eyal of the RUSI think-tank in London. "He didn’t befuddle us, he didn't bamboozle us – we knew what he was up to. The only problem was that we were not prepared to take the ultimate risk."