Q Tony, the Russian President also said that if NATO tore up its cooperation, "nothing terrible would happen to us." I mean, we've talked a lot about consequences in the last week. There's not a lot of specifics. If it's not a United States problem, if it is a larger global European problem, as well, what can really be done?

MR. FRATTO: I can't emphasize it enough, actually. I mean, a lot of damage has already been inflicted on Russia. And it comes in many forms. Clearly it's in international politics and diplomatic activity; that is a cost. There are economic costs that Russia has already suffered -- not just because of, by the way, the recent conflict in Georgia, but because of a series of actions they've taken over a number of years that include authoritative -- heavy-handed authoritative measures against commercial activity in Russia. There is a risk premium to doing business in Russia. And you can go out and talk to international bankers and global companies and ask them about it. I think some of them would be happy to talk about it.

So there are costs. And they're already in place, and I think there's evidence that they're being felt in Russia. And that's the nature of the world. When you heard President Bush and Secretary Rice talk about the fact that we're in the 21st century and it's a very different world, you can't go out and see the fruits of military conquest and take those kinds of disproportionate responses to international conflict -- that's part of what they meant. We are a much more interconnected world, and there are costs to countries who choose to go outside of what are the traditional norms for -- now traditional norms for the relations between states.

seen at 09:00, 26 August in Whitehouse Press Briefings. Email this to a friend.
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