澳门六合彩

Relations between the United States and Russia continue to plummet. New sanctions legislation in Washington 鈥� which arrived on President Trump鈥檚 desk with a veto-proof majority 鈥� prompted not only the ejection of U.S. diplomats from Russia, but a declaration by Prime Minister Medvedev on the 鈥渆nd of hope鈥� for improved ties.

At the same time, Presidents Trump and Putin seem to want to preserve some political space for the possibility of better days. How entrenched is the current state of affairs? Are there avenues left for cooperation?

Listen in as three veteran Russia-watchers assess prospects for the relationship and unpack the Trump-Putin dynamic.

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Key Quotes:

Jane Harman:

鈥淭he passage of that [sanctions] legislation and other recent developments... have prompted a recalibration by some officials, both in our country and in Russia and around the world, of what is the US-Russia relationship.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 hopeful that the future of U.S.-Russia relations, despite this bump, is positive.鈥澨�

Aaron David Miller:

鈥淸The relationship] seems to be driven by profound听鈥撎齭ome would say, irreconcilable听鈥撎齞ifferences between the United States and Russia, as well as a new factor, which I guess you could describe as the permanent 鈥榙omesticization鈥� of Russia as a domestic and foreign policy issue.鈥�

鈥淲e can鈥檛 afford a collapse of the relationship, obviously, so the real question is how do we go forward?鈥澨�

Maxim Trudolyubov:

鈥淭he view from the Kremlin was, and remains, stubbornly geopolitical.鈥�

鈥淸Russia] inherited a global view, a global reach, and, in a way, a habit of being a global power.鈥�

鈥淪o we have a chain of failures on the Russian part on the one hand, but on the other hand, there is a certain audacity and self-confidence of someone in the Kremlin... of someone who thinks that they are in systemic, existential danger and [that] they have to fight back.鈥�

William Pomeranz:

鈥淥ne of the reasons why this current sanctions regime has been so successful is that the United States and the EU have worked in tandem.鈥�

鈥淧utin鈥檚 actions were predictable 鈥撎齢e had to respond 鈥撎齭o it鈥檚 not surprising that he decided to lower the presence of U.S. officials and Russian workers at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. But the bottom line is that these sanctions are here to stay, they will continue to have an impact on U.S.-Russian relations, and it means that whatever Trump has envisioned as part of his bold plan, he will not be able to realize [it].鈥澨�

Andrew Weiss:

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of mythmaking and not a lot of dispassionate talk about just how hard this problem is.鈥澨�

鈥淚f you were to take the senior spokespeople of the administration at face value... those all look like normal aspects of a policy to deal with the Russia problem. My concern is... there鈥檚 such a huge disconnect between where Trump is on these issues and where the serious people on his national security team are.鈥�