"[It] didn't cause significant damage. The psychological impact, though, there are people that disagree on this, my view is that this is going to galvanize Russia, not create fear or discontent or division. There are others who believe that by doing this, it is going to portray Russia as weak and create internal problems. I simply note that the reactions of former [Russian] President [Dmitry] Medvedev, as well as members of the Duma – they are livid, they are outraged, and calling for escalatory retaliation against Ukraine. So I think in many respects this backfired," the former CIA intelligence officer and State Department official told Sputnik.
"Ukraine at this point is in a very desperate situation, and they’re looking for any way out. And I think they perceive as one of the only ways out is to get the United States more deeply involved in this conflict," the observer explained.
"They’re trying to put a band aid on a sucking chest wound, the policy basically, the US policy in Ukraine and foreign policy across the board, is in collapse. It’s in freefall. The United States is not accomplishing its goals,” Johnson argued, pointing to Washington’s decision to send over $120 billion into a "black hole” in Ukraine and failing to achieve “any of the results that it had anticipated,” like the collapse of Russia or regime change.