This geopolitical truism is evident from President Donald Trump’s abortive attempts to move the United States government’s policy towards Russia to a less confrontational path. In no other foreign policy area was the gap between candidate Trump and the Washington establishment greater than his professed admiration for Vladimir Putin, scepticism about the Western alliance and opposition to economic sanctions against Russia. Trump now admits that US-Russia relations are at “an all-time low” and the Kremlin speaks of bilateral ties having “worsened” with the new administration. Trump’s desire for closer ties with Russia faced opposition from almost every element of the US bureaucracy, security apparatus, legislature and his own Republican Party. Evidence the Kremlin may have sought to interfere in the US presidential elections in Trump’s favour only added legitimacy to the system’s efforts to maintain the traditional run of the US’s Russia policy.

Source: Hindustan Times April 16, 2017 13:07 UTC