MOSCOW: Donald Trump said throughout his election marketing campaign he sought after to make stronger members of the family between the USA and Vladimir Putin's Russia. But a year on from his inauguration, ties between Washington and Moscow are at Cold War lows.
As American investigators proceed to probe Russian involvement in Trump's surprise 2016 election victory over Hillary Clinton, Moscow talks of the USA president as a hostage to internal political struggles who is not able to make stronger ties.
"Russian-American relations deserve better, our people deserve better," the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova informed AFP.
"We were always in favour of developing bilateral relations regardless what president came to power in the US," she said.
Tensions between Washington and Moscow have endured to grow in spite of the promises of the then Republican candidate and his early nomination of Rex Tillerson -- who has personal ties to Putin -- to Secretary of State.
The Cold War competitors have clashed over crises in Ukraine, Syria and Iran, with reciprocal expulsions of diplomats final year.
Following Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the warfare between Kiev and Kremlin-backed rebels, the USA has imposed ever stricter sanctions on Moscow.
In his diplomatic roundup of 2017 on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov time and again attacked the USA on just about all subjects, suggesting a sadness in the new president.
"Unfortunately the actions of the current administration are in line of Obama's, despite the line of president Trump during his election campaign. In certain areas, they are even more assertive," Lavrov said at an annual press conference.
After accusing the Obama management of intentionally destroying Russian-American members of the family, Moscow had "big hopes" the election of Trump would make stronger the relationship, in keeping with Russian analyst Ivan Kurilla.
"There is an impression that the Russian elite continues to believe the Trump administration does not want full confrontation with Russia and a hope for improvement remains," Kurilla, of the European University in Saint Petersburg, informed AFP. "If not this year, then the next," he added.
Vladimir Vassilyev, a researcher on the Institute for US and Canadian Studies in Moscow, said there's a "paradox" in the present state of ties between the 2 countries.
"The leaders of the two countries have called for an improvement of relations, but they are only degrading," Vassilyev informed AFP.
While Moscow waits for ties to make stronger, a year of Trump in the White House has been marked by a chain of latest sanctions over alleged interference in the USA presidential election, on most sensible of its movements in Ukraine.
Zakharova describes an "anti-Russian hysteria" in the USA, blaming this on the "same people who played the anti-Russian card during the election campaign of Hillary Clinton, who have not been able to accept the defeat of their candidate".
Zakharova insists that supporting candidate Trump used to be never the "official Russian position," even though Trump used to be thought to be friendly to Moscow and Vladimir Putin praised his personal qualities publicly.
"This is the American president, elected by the American people. This has nothing to do with Russia," she said.
As American investigators proceed to probe Russian involvement in Trump's surprise 2016 election victory over Hillary Clinton, Moscow talks of the USA president as a hostage to internal political struggles who is not able to make stronger ties.
"Russian-American relations deserve better, our people deserve better," the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova informed AFP.
"We were always in favour of developing bilateral relations regardless what president came to power in the US," she said.
Tensions between Washington and Moscow have endured to grow in spite of the promises of the then Republican candidate and his early nomination of Rex Tillerson -- who has personal ties to Putin -- to Secretary of State.
The Cold War competitors have clashed over crises in Ukraine, Syria and Iran, with reciprocal expulsions of diplomats final year.
Following Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the warfare between Kiev and Kremlin-backed rebels, the USA has imposed ever stricter sanctions on Moscow.
In his diplomatic roundup of 2017 on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov time and again attacked the USA on just about all subjects, suggesting a sadness in the new president.
"Unfortunately the actions of the current administration are in line of Obama's, despite the line of president Trump during his election campaign. In certain areas, they are even more assertive," Lavrov said at an annual press conference.
After accusing the Obama management of intentionally destroying Russian-American members of the family, Moscow had "big hopes" the election of Trump would make stronger the relationship, in keeping with Russian analyst Ivan Kurilla.
"There is an impression that the Russian elite continues to believe the Trump administration does not want full confrontation with Russia and a hope for improvement remains," Kurilla, of the European University in Saint Petersburg, informed AFP. "If not this year, then the next," he added.
Vladimir Vassilyev, a researcher on the Institute for US and Canadian Studies in Moscow, said there's a "paradox" in the present state of ties between the 2 countries.
"The leaders of the two countries have called for an improvement of relations, but they are only degrading," Vassilyev informed AFP.
While Moscow waits for ties to make stronger, a year of Trump in the White House has been marked by a chain of latest sanctions over alleged interference in the USA presidential election, on most sensible of its movements in Ukraine.
Zakharova describes an "anti-Russian hysteria" in the USA, blaming this on the "same people who played the anti-Russian card during the election campaign of Hillary Clinton, who have not been able to accept the defeat of their candidate".
Zakharova insists that supporting candidate Trump used to be never the "official Russian position," even though Trump used to be thought to be friendly to Moscow and Vladimir Putin praised his personal qualities publicly.
"This is the American president, elected by the American people. This has nothing to do with Russia," she said.
A year of Trump fails to improve US-Russia ties
![A year of Trump fails to improve US-Russia ties]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
January 18, 2018
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