(The Diplomat) Over the past two weeks – or over the past 18 months, really – there has been no shortage of stories, angles, and questions surrounding the relationship between Moscow and U.S. President Donald Trump. From Trump’s former national security adviser misleading other White House officials about communications with Russia to Trump firing FBI head James Comey due, at least in part, to ongoing investigations into Russian ties to Trump’s presidential campaign — all as the White House allowed only Russian media into Trump’s recent meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — the intrigue and developments have been difficult to keep up with. […]
All the while, though, Washington’s post-Soviet policy continues ahead — and continues, some four months into Trump’s tenure, largely unchanged. If anything, Washington’s current Russia policy has been placed in something of a “receivership,” as American University Professor Keith Darden recently noted: The White House, the theory goes, can’t be seen as soft on Russia, as any move toward conciliation – say, via lifting sanctions — would be spun as simple outgrowth of Moscow pulling the president’s strings. As such, any move toward an Obama-style reset has been effectively strangled in the crib, snuffed out before the president could embrace Russian President Vladimir Putin. […]
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