Note: This is one in an occasional series of interviews with Colorado journalists.

By Ed Otte

Ann Imse is a veteran Kremlin watcher.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian studies at the University of Washington, a master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University and was a foreign exchange student at Leningrad State University in 1974.

After working as a business reporter for the Orange County Register, Imse served as Moscow correspondent for The Associated Press for three years from 1988 to 1991. She and CNN’s Stuart Loory co-authored “Seven Days that Shook the World: The Collapse of Soviet Communism” in 1991. Loory established the network’s Moscow bureau in 1983.

Beginning in 1994, Imse worked as an investigative and beat reporter for 14 years at the Rocky Mountain News. In 2009, she founded Colorado Public News, an online news organization.

Imse, who speaks Russian, also has trained journalists in the former Soviet Union.

In addition to answering the following questions, she also provided a list of news sources for Russian activities and an overview of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine.

For polling of the Russian public, including Putin’s popularity rating:

http://www.levada.ru/eng/

For the English-language, foreign run newspaper in Moscow:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/

Here’s a Canadian television report on Russian television claiming a Ukrainian jet shot down the Malaysian airliner:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/Russian-tv-says-photo-shows-ukrainian-jet-shot-down-mh17-others-call-it-a-fake-1.21013803/

Here’s the RT.com (Russian television) report:

http://rt.com/news/174412-malaysia-plane-russia-ukraine/

Overview:

The situation in Ukraine is very dangerous, with a potential to escalate beyond the 3,000 already killed. Russian and NATO militaries have had encounters that can easily get out of control. What happens if the next incident is a Russian jet shooting down a NATO aircraft, or the reverse?

Government-controlled news in Russia is telling the Russian people a completely different story than the one being reported by non-government Western correspondents and a few independent Russian ones. Russian state media have persuaded their viewers that Russian volunteers are helping Ukrainians resists fascists installed in Kiev by the United States, which paid Ukrainians to oust their leader; that there are no Russian soldiers in Ukraine; that the Malaysian airliner was shot down by Ukraine. There are people in Russia expecting the U.S. to bomb Moscow.

I could not understand how Russians could think that, until I realized that the commentators need only say that the U.S. bombed the Islamic State, Iraq, Afghanistan, Serbia, and imply that Russia is next. In 2006, a smart woman in Kazakhstan asked me when the U.S. was going to invade Kazakhstan. I was stunned and asked why she would think that. She said, “You invaded Iraq for its oil. We have oil. Why wouldn’t you invade us, too?”

Stories in Russian state media have spawned widespread anti-Americanism.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not crazy, as many Americans believe. He is wildly successful at what he wants to achieve — power. He has a popularity rating over 80 percent. He’s gained territory without a full-scale war. He’s trying to split NATO by pitting one European country against another, because some countries are much less willing to confront Russia due to their dependency on supplies of Russian natural gas.

Question: Is the political and military turmoil in eastern Ukraine designed to secure a land route from Russia to Crimea or to destabilize the entire country?

Imse: It has made progress toward both.

Putin has pursued a series of territorial takeovers, in parts of Georgia bordering Russia, then Crimea and now southwestern Ukraine. Russia needs the Ukrainian provinces near Crimea to supply Crimea, which is cut off from Russia geographically. But the war also serves as pressure on Ukraine to achieve his other goal: a Ukraine ruled by a Russian puppet, as were most of the leaders of Ukraine over the last 23 years. At the very least, he wants a Ukraine that is neutral and a buffer zone between Russia and the NATO defense organization.

NATO is on the Russian border at Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania already, and he invaded Georgia and Ukraine as soon as they took steps toward joining the European Union and possibly NATO.

I think Western leaders did not take Putin seriously enough when he warned in the past that he would not stand for NATO on his border. The West did not see Russia as a serious enemy any more. Putin, a former KGB agent, has always seen the West as the enemy.

Question: Do you think the treatment of Vladimir Putin by the Western leaders at the G-20 Summit in Australia will affect the Russian president’s policies?

Imse: Of course not. Western leaders were showing genuine anger for their own home audiences. Putin already was furious at Western leaders for what he sees as their role in ousting his man in Ukraine. The G-20 just reinforced his anger. He has been described as vindictive, based on his actions against democratic activists at home and in the countries of the former Soviet Union. This made his anger more personal.

Question: Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, saying the world is on the brink of a new Cold War, suggested the U.S. and E.U. sanctions against Russia be lifted. Do you agree?

Imse: I think we are in a new Cold War now, with rising military spending and a limited hot war in a third country. The West has made it clear it will not lift sanctions without a major rollback by Russia. That seems highly unlikely. Putin may or may not want a way out, but I haven’t heard of any realistic diplomatic solution. German leader Angela Merkel has spoken with Putin more than 40 times, without result.

I would add that the most effective pressure on Russia is happening regardless of sanctions.

The ruble started dropping as soon as Russia began the takeover of Crimea, because so many people expected that to end in disaster for the Russian economy. Russians and foreigners began pulling their money out of Russia – the official estimate is $130 billion so far. That meant people had to convert their rubles into dollars or Euros, and as a result the ruble has dropped from 32 to 57 per dollar this year. This is hard for many Russian people and the Russian economy. The fall in the price of oil from over $100 to $60 is damaging the exchange rate and putting a huge hole in the Russian government budget. Oil prices are dropping due to an excess of supply over demand, as a result of a declining world economy and the huge amount of oil now being produced in the U.S. Neither the fall of the ruble nor the price of oil is controlled by an individual, so neither is likely to stop.

Question: During Vice President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Kiev, nonlethal aid was delivered to the Ukrainian government. Should the U.S. deliver military weapons?

Imse: The U.S. has not given military aid to Ukraine because the administration thinks it would increase fighting on the ground, and lead to more Russian involvement and more civilian deaths. Despite Republicans’ clamor for a stronger response, they don’t get very specific. It’s difficult to know how far one the West can push without sliding into disaster. A military confrontation with Russia risks a U.S.-Russian war, which could go nuclear.

Question: The U.S. European Command will expand its troop commitment, including soldiers from Fort Carson, to Operation Atlantic Resolve. Will such NATO actions deter Russian intervention in Ukraine?

This is not designed to have an effect in Ukraine. The U.S. is drawing a line at NATO borders and warning Russia that any invasion of a NATO country will be met with full force. The NATO countries that feel most at risk are Poland and the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The last three were part of the Soviet Union.

Question: The economy of Ukraine, and much of Europe, is dependent on Russian trade and energy. Is that an incentive or an obstacle to a diplomatic solution?

Imse: At this point, it is an obstacle. Europe did not learn from Russia repeatedly cutting off gas supplies to Ukraine in winter that it would use trade as a weapon. Both Europe and Ukraine would be better off today if they had diversified their energy supplies long ago.

Question: The Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the Islamic State conflict in Iraq and Syria seem to dominate U.S. coverage of international news. Why is the Ukrainian situation given less coverage by U.S. news organizations?

Imse: U.S. television and major online news media watch their viewership minute-by-minute. Americans didn’t care about Ebola until it showed up in America. Americans think members of the Islamic State are coming to the U.S. They are not worried about Russia invading the U.S.

I would argue in a news meeting that the Russian situation is more important because it is more dangerous.