Russia Expected To Be ‘Less Belligerent’ Towards U.S. Due To Trump Being Voted In? Will The Bromance Last?
The bromance between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has come to be all thanks to Trump’s ability and willingness to say what Putin wants to hear, and the good terms that exist between the president and president-elect are considered by analysts as a potential good thing, in the short term. As the Washington Post states it could make the world a less dangerous place to have Putin on the side of the U.S.
Trump, Putin, and the alt-right international: https://t.co/NscFHjcCcJ
— VAPolitical (@VAPolitical) November 3, 2016
Moscow, along with the rest of the world, was likely expecting Hillary Clinton to win the presidential election on Tuesday, which reportedly caused the leader of the nation to de-legitimize the election by claiming that the vote had been rigged in her favor and was even set to accuse American democracy as being a sham. If Clinton made office, this would have meant that Moscow would not have budged on the Ukraine standoff that has caused much bloodshed, not to mention the campaign with the Syrian government to annihilate any resisting forces against Assad by bombing incessantly.
What We Actually Know About Trump’s Relationship with Putin and Russia via @FortuneMagazine https://t.co/kTFInKsMxF
— trakgalvis (@trakgalvis) November 3, 2016
Trump has instead been elected and because he has never voiced any opposition to Russia’s influence in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Moscow sees his victory as favorable. The publication states what Trump has voiced in regard to the Kremlin and Putin’s wish-list.
“[Trump has]offered to at least discuss Kremlin wish-list items such as lifting sanctions or recognizing the annexation of Crimea. And Putin, some analysts say, has no reason to dissuade the Republican of his willingness to deal before he takes office; in the short run, the Russian leader could decide to substitute his trademark unpredictability with diplomacy.”
Russia is now capable of seeking and reaching its goals by way of diplomacy as opposed to by use of secret operation. Vladimir Flolov, a foreign policy analyst of Moscow, states that “The important thing for Russia is to not be in the news for some massacre.”
He goes on to remind that any apparent softening of Putin and Russian aggressive conduct, is only to last for the length of time that Russia sees that it can gain something from dealing with the president-elect.
Dimitry Gorenburg, a senior research scientist for CNA shared the how he believes Putin will test Trump in the early days of his presidency.
“My guess is that they will want to test the extent to which Trump will follow through on his rhetoric that places like Ukraine and the Baltics are not in the zone of U.S. vital interests by offering a ‘sphere of influence’ deal where they [Russians] can happily dominate their neighborhood in exchange for an end to confrontational rhetoric and efforts to destabilize Western European countries [plus cooperation in Syria].”
Russian officials have certainly expressed optimism since Trump’s victory on Tuesday, yet that optimism is guarded. Dimitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman relayed the reaction of Russian officials to the victory, stating, “It is phenomenal how close they are to one another when it comes to their conceptual approach to foreign policy,” while at the same time warning that establishing mutual trust could take years.
A member of Russia’s house of parliament, Alexei Pushkov, also tweeted a response to Trump’s win.
“We shouldn’t expect love or gifts from Trump. He’s a patriot and a businessman. But he’s not an ideologue, he’s a realist. And a realist understands the language of deals.”
However, there are potential issues and stand-offs that could arise with a number of areas Putin may try make “deals” on. The situation in Syria wherein Putin has backed Assad, while Obama has preferred to support a more moderate regime against Assad, has become a sore spot between Russia and the U.S. It is unknown whether Trump would side with Putin and Assad in their strategy to bring a strong victory for the Syrian leader using aggressive strategies.
Trump voiced his willingness in July to recognize Crimea as Russian territory. Moscow annexed the area in 2014. This is in opposition to sanctions that were broadened on Moscow by the U.S. and European governments and were imposed because of the situation in Crimea.
Trump, however, criticized NATO, which indicated he may be far less enthusiastic about further expansion of the alliance into the former Soviet neighborhood, which Russia views as a grave threat to its security.”
[Feature Image by Adam Berry/Getty Images]
