The arrest of a dual US-Russian citizen over a measly $51 donation to a Ukraine-linked charity is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s middle finger to the United States – and the American government needs to step up, a former diplomat said.

“I do think he is giving [a middle finger] to the United States and to the Americans,” Bill Taylor, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo of the Kremlin dictator’s move to arrest 33-year-old amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina.

“If she’s been illegally detained, then we go into high gear, we have people whose job it is to start figuring out how to get her back,” he insisted.

Karelina – who is originally from Russia but obtained US citizenship in 2021 – was charged with treason late last month under Article 275 of Russia’s Criminal Code after she allegedly gave around $50 to a charity supporting Ukraine’s army.

The spa manager and amateur ballerina now faces 12 years to life behind bars.