Mr. Putin is cleverly not taking the bait, preferring to run out the clock on the Obama presidency. When Mr. Trump is sworn in three weeks from now, he will have more leverage over Mr. Putin thanks to Mr. Obama's bad-cop act. While it would be politically tricky to lift the sanctions immediately upon taking office, Mr. Trump has long vowed to improve relations with Russia. Having more bargaining chips for some grand "deal" — whatever that might look like — only improves his position. (Why he is so enamored with a U.S.-Russian romance is a deeper mystery to me.)