WASHINGTON, D.C. – The effectiveness of sanctions on Russia – the West’s collective response to the Kremlin’s aggression against Ukraine – has been the topic of a series of meetings and lectures held over the last few weeks in the U.S. capital.

The events, with more to come this month, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the Euromaidan Revolution, which chased from power Moscow-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and tilted the country toward the West.