Last week, as the ruble collapsed in value against the U.S. dollar and a full-blown financial crisis threatened to explode in Russia, news broke that…

Source: foreignpolicy.com

"The combined effect of sanctions and record low oil prices are leading to a scenario for an economic doomsday: a government so starved of hydrocarbon revenues it cannot pay salaries and pensions; a private sector with no credit options either at home or abroad; a devalued currency making prohibitively expensive the dollar- and euro-purchased food imports Russia relies on. This may provide Putin with ample objective grounds for reaching an agreement. As unpalatable as it will be to Western leaders, they will have to deal with him to get it."

After all this, how much is Russia willing to pay for getting Ukraine back? What’s Russia’s payoff after rounds and rounds of the above? Ukraine seems to be the weakest link, the tender wrist in Russia’s body?

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