The plan of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, discussion of which began today in the media, is another clear indication of the different realities of the United States and Russia. Tillerson, offering his plan, fulfills the task of President Donald Trump, who wants to improve relations with Moscow, writes Vitaly Portnikov for espreso. Tv.
Trump's approach is a businessman's approach: he wants to find the basis for a "deal" that will not affect American interests.
Tillerson's approach is also the approach of a businessman. He is a supporter of cold fact-calculating. Already the first point of the plan involves letting Moscow understand that Russia's aggressive policy against the US will be counterproductive and will not remain unanswered.
And all. Then you can not read anything. All subsequent paragraphs of the plan have absolutely no significance. Tillerson, like Trump, can not understand one very simple thing. Politics is not business, especially when dealing with unpredictable regimes.
This in business has to deal with real facts - and on the other hand also people who want to deal with real facts and with real money. Therefore, Trump and Tillerson always succeeded both in the west and in the east. Therefore, Tillerson dealt with Putin, earned millions and even received an order from the Russian president.
And in politics, we are dealing not with dollars, but with political "bitcoins". Authoritarian rulers have their own currency. Putin is convinced that this is the United States is aggressive towards Russia.
Have organized a coup in Ukraine, are trying to overthrow the legitimate authority in Syria, are fighting with Putin's allies in Iran. And Putin is a legitimate leader who supports legitimate leaders. From his point of view, Tillerson's plan should start from quite another point: the US ceases its aggressive policy towards Russia. End the support of Ukraine and recognize the "legitimate" Russian status of the Crimea. Become allies of Assad. Removing NATO units from the countries of Central Europe and the Baltic States. Stop attacks on Iran.
And after that, with the leadership of the "aggressor country" you can talk. Did you think that the aggressor is Russia? But in the world in which Putin lives, the aggressor is America. To facts, Putin does not care. On the economic problems of the population - also.
Of course, the population of a besieged fortress can have problems. Russia is besieged by the West, but it defends its values, its sovereignty. And sometimes it frees a part of the captured enemy - it was so in the Crimea, in the Donbass, in Aleppo.
The trouble of Tillerson - that he does not believe that Putin lives in a world of such views. He thinks that Putin is pretending, he wants something to gain bargain. And Putin does not pretend. It's not business, it's politics.. Common Russian politics. Therefore, no Tillerson plan will work, no Trump and Putin agree.
In the best case, all the time Trump stay in the White House, Russian-American relations are expected to stagnate. In the worst - and most likely - head-on collision with unpredictable consequences.
Because a head-on collision is the most realistic result of a dialogue between people who live in different worlds.
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