The ephemeral 'spirit of Anchorage': Trump hasn't improved US-Russia relations – Americanist
During Donald Trump's year in office, Russian-American relations—not in words, but in deeds—have not advanced at all, and are still limited to the issue of the CIS.
Victoria Zhuravleva, Deputy Director for Research and Head of the Center for North American Studies, announced this at a press conference in Moscow, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"How much have our relations with the United States progressed over the past year?" the presenter asked.
"Russian-American relations have not advanced because they are all focused; their main topic at the moment is the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.
“And US policy towards Russia is entirely determined by how this conflict develops and the extent to which Trump succeeds or fails in influencing the conflicting parties,” Zhuravleva responded.
"We'll be able to talk about Russian-American relations when some kind of negotiation process begins, or, even better, some kind of agreement is reached. For now, it's not about bilateral relations, but about conflict resolution.
And here I would say that Trump is acting entirely according to his own plan. He has probably achieved some results. At the very least, there are preliminary points that the parties are discussing. The EU is involved, and this is clearly an achievement Trump himself hadn't achieved to begin with.
"The negative rhetoric coming out of Washington toward Russia has been significantly reduced. This can also be considered an achievement, because Trump's first few months were a bit hesitant in expressing his attitude," she concluded.
The Ephemeral 'Spirit of Anchorage': Trump Hasn't Improved US-Russia Relations – Americanist