Former U.S Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, in Kyiv for the Yalta European Strategy conference, told the Kyiv Post in an interview that he wishes that the West would have taken stronger and swifter action against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“I think that we could have done more. I think there could

have been a visit” by U.S. President Barack Obama. “I think that would have

provided some reassurance. I think there could have been more in the way of

defensive weapons. I think we were even slow to providing military training. There

are a number of areas where we could have done more and frankly done it without

provoking a dangerous Russia.”