The results of the mid-term elections in the United States are not only a review of the forces of the country's leading political parties on the eve of the presidential elections of 2020, not only the predicted success of the Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Republic’s no less predictable preservation of their positions in the Senate. This is also the end of the honeymoon in the relationship of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin..
They will say that this honeymoon was not at all, that the Russian ruler had pinned great hopes on an ambitious construction magnate.. That even the first two years of Trump’s rule did not bring any real Russian-American agreements, but brought only tougher sanctions.
It's hard not to agree. And yet, Trump's desire to negotiate with Putin, to conclude some “deal” with the Kremlin dweller was obvious; Trump did not hide it. Yes, it was very difficult for the American president to negotiate with the Russian, because Putin - as is customary in his contacts with Western leaders after 2014 - did not give his American counterpart well, just no way to save face. Yes, Trump was shackled by Muller’s investigation.. But he had opportunities.
Now these opportunities have diminished, and seriously. Yes, the House of Representatives is not the Senate, its members are not easy to influence the foreign policy of the administration. But they can follow literally every step of Trump against Putin, create investigative commissions, question agreements, pass new sanction laws, and demand that the White House implement them.. And with each new month, the elections will come closer, and Putin will be toxic to Trump not from the point of view of the investigation of Muller, but from the point of view of the current political struggle.
Trump is well aware of the political instinct he can not refuse. It is no coincidence that the American president speaks about future meetings with Putin without his usual enthusiasm - it seems that the White House wants to reduce these meetings to working lunches, nothing more.. But even if the full-fledged negotiations take place, they are unlikely to lead to compromises.. Putin is not inclined to compromise, and Trump does not need them..
What remains for the Russian president? When Barack Obama finally became convinced that Putin was constantly deceiving him, the Kremlin decided to “sit out” Obama - and they sat out, of course. Now we need to "sit down" on Trump, expect that the next American president, unhindered by investigations and not so conflicted in relations with the political elite of his own country, will be more attractive.. Well, or that he can be fooled.
But now it's a false hope.. Wait a little. Have to live under the increasing pressure of the civilized world. It's not about Obama or Trump anymore.. The fact is that with his antics of recent years Putin has turned the whole American political class against himself.
More recently, the Republicans were considered "hawks", and the Democrats to "reset". Now the question of the relation to the Kremlin is no longer associated with the Party. Trump was willing to negotiate with Putin, not because he is a Republican or a Democrat, but because he is Trump. But he did not succeed too much.. And no one in the US will succeed. No one else in the US will ever succeed in letting Putin fool himself. This is exactly what Putin managed.
Original.