(EDM) The trajectory of the manageable but mismanaged confrontation between the United States and Russia has fluctuated since the start of the year. And this past week, it registered at least four significant turns for the worse. Hopes for improvement in Moscow have all but dissipated, giving way to the usual game of blaming Washington for every conflict in the world and all the problems in the Russian economy. President Vladimir Putin, again accused the former Barack Obama administration and “Russophobes” in the US Congress for the setbacks in reaching a new start in relations and expressed confidence that President Donald Trump would prevail over his enemies (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, June 16). Putin refrained from commenting on the most recent negative events (see below), but a series of Russian diplomatic signals and military counter-measures shows that the Kremlin has shifted gears in preparation for a new escalation in tensions. The possible high-level Putin-Trump meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7–8, is no longer seen in Moscow as a major opportunity (Newsru.com, June 22). […]
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