US-Russia Relations

Korte, Gregory. "Trump: U.S.-Russian Relations 'may Be at an All-time Low'." USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, 12 Apr. 2017. Web. 28 Apr. 2017.

Donald Trump has said that US relations with Russia may be at “an all-time low” and declared a new-found faith in Nato, suggesting the alliance was “no longer obsolete”. The US president’s remarks at the White House followed a two-hour meeting in Moscow between his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and Vladimir Putin, which failed to resolve any of the deep differences between the two nations on Syria, Ukraine, or Moscow’s interference in the 2016 US election. “We’re not getting along with Russia at all,” Trump said, adding “we may be at an all-time low”. He avoided any direct criticism of Putin, but compared the relationship with Russia unfavourably to the one he had cultivated with China since the visit of Xi Jinping last week. Russia, Trump noted, had vetoed a US-backed resolution on Syria at the UN security council while China had abstained, adding that he was “not surprised” by Beijing’s stance – implying he had negotiated it with Xi. The president’s comments confirmed a significant shift in his positions since taking office nearly three months ago, cooling towards Russia and reaffirming support for Nato. Tillerson’s two-hour audience with Putin in the Kremlin led to the removal of the most immediate threat of escalation, as Putin “reaffirmed” the maintenance of a hotline between the two countries’ militaries to avoid midair collisions between their aircraft operating in Syrian airspace.