Thread by @jseldin

"We've always made it clear we want a productive, load-bearing relationship" w/#Russia, #Britain Ambassador to US @KarenPierceUK tells @CSIS

"The fundamental question has to be why does Russia reject these overtures" from #UK, other countries

"All these things we're seeing are synonymous w/the rise of President #Putin", per @KarenPierceUK, re poisonings, disinfo campaigns, support of #Syria's use of chemical weapons

"They're putting a lot of effort into undermining" the West, she adds

#Russia-#China: "I doubt very much its a partnership of two equals" per @KarenPierceUK, adding she wonders if Russia is being more manipulative w/China than #Beijing is being w/#Moscow

#Russia - "To halt them, we have to be very firm early on" per @KarenPierceUK "The West is not always as forceful w/Russia as we might be"

"I think they were surprised by the strength of the #Skripal response" per British Ambassador to US @KarenPierceUK "I don't think the Russians expected the hard time they got in the [@UN] Security Council"

But she notes "they're very good at regrouping"

"I fear, & this is just speculation, that they will divert their attention to outer countries whose internal systems are not quite so robust" per #Britain's @KarenPierceUK about pushback vs #Russia by #UK

"The #Russia|ns are resurgent in the #Balkans, notably in #Serbia" per #UK's @KarenPierceUK

"Bosnia, I think, is very vulnerable," she says, adding West must continue to strengthen #EU @NATO ties "and probably more government support"

"We could get back to a much more constructive path if the #Russia|ns just wanted to take it" per #UK Ambassador to the US @KarenPierceUK, suggesting more work via the P5...

"I do worry that the Russians just might not want to come into that discussion"