It was anything but dull in the Security Council on Monday, when Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya faced off with his US and UK counterparts, Nikki Haley and Karen Pierce, respectively, and the representatives from Sweden, the Netherlands and Poland. There was a surprising reversal of roles in the discussion of Saturday's suspected chemical weapons attack by Syrian government forces in the town of Douma: The United States and its EU allies pummeled Nebenzya with the rhetorical abandon that had always been the trademark of Russian diplomats.

The drama at the United Nations unfolded hours after the collapse of Moscow's stock exchange. Shares of Russia's state-owned enterprises and financial institutions such as Sberbank, as well as assets owned by the Kremlin-friendly billionaire Oleg Deripaska, took a nosedive. According to various estimates, the capitalization of companies belonging to Russian oligarchs fell by $12-16 billion (€9.7-13 billion) within a few hours. The ruble also took a plunge, losing about 10 percent of its value.

This was the result of the US Department of Treasury's decision on Friday to publish a new list of Russian individuals and companies to be punished under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The new sanctions struck Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle much harder than previous rounds had.