Russia and the United States have always been at odds, on various issues and even though there have been attempts to reset the relationship, in the aftermath of the demise of the Cold War, things have never been completely cordial between the two powers. This may change, given the mutual admiration that President Vladimir Putin and soon-to-be US President Donald Trump have for each other.
Trump recently praised the Russian president for not expelling American diplomats from Russia in retaliation after the Obama administration expelled 36 Russian diplomats from America, when further evidence on Russian tampering during the presidential elections came to light. US intelligence agencies have confirmed that Russia did indeed tamper with the elections, in favour of Trump, an allegation that Putin denies, but obviously. Trump, on the other hand, has stated that he does not believe there was any tampering, but would ask for a briefing from intelligence agencies upon taking office. He went to extent of tweeting that he admired the Russian president for staying his hand and called him smart. Putin, in a further backhanded slap to the current president, stated that he would not do anything to America and, in not so many words, said he would await a diplomatic handshake from president Trump.
But even here America needs to be wary. Trump and Putin have similar ideologies. Both want to advance their nuclear arsenals. Both want to be supreme superpowers. But this will eventually end up with being at odds with each other again. Trump may say what he wants now, but as president he will have to keep America’s best interests at heart, and Putin will want America’s influence across the world to stop. He wishes for Russia to have an equal, if not more powerful, standing. If given carte blanche access to expand his nuclear arsenal, he will force his enemies to bow down before him. More than that, somewhere down the line, he will take on America and NATO, and work to undermine that strong influence that America has in Europe and Asia.
All presidents in the past, from Bill Clinton, George W Bush and even Barack Obama, have tried to work with Russia. Obama even officially coined the term ‘reset’ when describing the effort to renew diplomatic relations with Russia. But just as all presidents learned, Donald Trump will too, that Russia is not an entity that can be trusted, atleast not with Vladimir Putin at the helm.
The Russian president is somewhat of a bully. If he was behind the hacking of Hillary Clinton’s emails and also the effort to change the course of the elections in Trump’s favour then he has plan in mind. Knowing him, that plan will only serve to benefit Russia. The world be damned.
