The Roller Coaster between Russia and the US

For a long time, we have been witnessing an absurdist theater, where citizens of the United States who call for cooperation with Russia to solve common problems are automatically accused of disloyalty – and this is the best-case scenario. More serious accusations are possible too, like the ones that have been brought against Donald Trump.

During the election campaign and his inauguration speech, the leader in the Oval Office repeatedly stated the need for friendship and cooperation with different nations of the world, including Russia. Donald Trump said that under his presidency, America would no longer be engaged in overthrowing unwanted regimes and imposing its lifestyle on other countries. His goal is to make America the role model. Trump’s opponents, first those in the Democratic Party but Republicans, too, are infuriated by such expressions, and they adamantly hurl streams of angry insults and accusations at him, saying he doesn’t act according to U.S. interests but according to the interests of Russia and Vladimir Putin.

In the U.S., right after the day of the election, there began an unprecedented campaign to discredit the president and prevent almost all of his initiatives, both in domestic and foreign policy and, of course, the issue of rapprochement with Russia. The irony is that the speeches from certain members of the administration, due to fears of being on the brink of receiving this criticism as well, were in the same anti-Russian tone as that of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

In April, after the use of chemical weapons in Syria, when Washington immediately and without any proof blamed the government of Syria, the prospects of a direct military confrontation between the U.S. and Russia rose. Many people thought that in this situation, the scheduled visit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Moscow would not take place at all, but common sense prevailed. The White House and the Kremlin understand that relations between our countries right now are the lowest since the Cold War.

“We cannot have … the two greatest nuclear powers in the world cannot have this kind of relationship. We have to change it,” Tillerson told Vladimir Putin, and the Russian president nodded in agreement.

Somewhat positive changes started after this meeting, even though they are slow and careful. Washington and Moscow, apparently, are going back to the necessity of finding a common strategy for the situation in Syria. From all appearances, the U.S. is ready to cooperate on the treaty for safe zones that are jointly guaranteed by Russia, Turkey and Iran.

If we can make progress in this direction, then it might prepare the basis for the promotion of not only a political settlement in Syria, but also joint actions against the Islamic State and al-Qaida (whose activities are banned in Russia) and their allies. It’s clear Trump’s enemies will do everything they can to spoil these agreements. That’s why it is possible the noticeable and small movement up the rollercoaster may be replaced by another downturn.

The return visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the White House and the dismissal of FBI Director James Comey gave the witch hunters in the U.S. Congress and the media new life in their search for Trump’s links to Russia. In the U.S., there are a lot of different groups for whom Russia is much more useful as an enemy than a friend. That’s why even before the collapse of the Soviet Union and during the years that followed, especially after 9/11, Moscow was constantly sending signals to Washington about its wish to become friends and allies with America, but these signals were always ignored.

Trump intuitively understands that successful cooperation between the U.S. and Russia in the fight against terrorism is a necessary starting point for the bilateral relations that are necessary to ensure that life on this planet is not in perpetual risk of a global catastrophe. Besides that, we should understand the full power of Trump’s irreconcilable enemies and act in accordance with existing realities.