To get any diplomatic interaction with the Putin regime given the backdrop of Ukraine is surprising to me. I’d suppose Putin must have calculated the trade would be net negative for the stability of democracy. If that were the case … bravo for the somewhat tattered but still operational free democracy to have gone through with the best we could do symbolically showing value for human rights with the lowest cost. Let the critic consider that free people choose at times to pay the ultimate price, death, in the name of the value of human rights for the least.