Wed Dec 27, 2017, 09:50 AM

Gothmog (91,000 posts)

For Putin, Trumps presidency has not lived up to expectations

Putin is not getting the return on his investment that he expected http://thehill.com/opinion/international/366455-for-putin-trumps-presidency-has-not-lived-up-to-expectations

For both Russia and the U.S. 2017 was year of mutual frustration in their relations. Vladimir Putin clearly anticipated, as did the Russian elite, that President Trump would make good on his frequent assertions that he would repair relations with Moscow. Yet by year’s end both Trump’s rhetoric and Putin’s hopes were dashed.

Indeed, in December 2017 the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Russia and selected individual Russian elites for violating the INF treaty and under the terms of the newly enacted “Global Magnitsky Law.”

The administration also published a new National Security Strategy forthrightly accusing Russia of intervening in the U.S. elections and portraying as an aggressor and threat to European if not global security, announced the first steps in providing Ukraine with weapons to defend against Russian aggression, and forcefully intensified the reinforcement of NATO forces in Europe and overall ties with European allies.

Needless to say, all of these moves aroused enormous anger and frustration in Moscow even though Putin formally claims that Russia still seeks partnership with the U.S. or at least cooperation on issues of mutual concern and interest.

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8 replies	Author	Time	Post
For Putin, Trumps presidency has not lived up to expectations (Original post)	Gothmog	Dec 2017	OP
Wow! Twitler lied to him?!?	Phoenix61	Dec 2017	#1
Putin should have learned from Trump's history of stiffing banks that lent him money,	no_hypocrisy	Dec 2017	#2
there's still time	uponit7771	Dec 2017	#3
Putin knows better than most Americans that Trump will always disappoint.	Orsino	Dec 2017	#4
Will the Pee tape be released?	Gothmog	Dec 2017	#5
I disagree. Putin has succeeded in causing the possible collapse of democracy in the USA.	KPN	Dec 2017	#6
And honking off the rest of the planet	Proud Liberal Dem	Dec 2017	#8
Disagree.	Xolodno	Dec 2017	#7

Response to Gothmog (Original post)

Wed Dec 27, 2017, 09:53 AM

Phoenix61 (9,155 posts)

1. Wow! Twitler lied to him?!?

Say it isn't so. The only question is how pissed off is Putin and what will he do to get even.

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Response to Gothmog (Original post)

Wed Dec 27, 2017, 09:54 AM

no_hypocrisy (37,583 posts)

2. Putin should have learned from Trump's history of stiffing banks that lent him money,

contractors whose work he stole, and suing anyone who wants what he legally owes them.

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Response to Gothmog (Original post)

Wed Dec 27, 2017, 09:58 AM

uponit7771 (73,626 posts)

3. there's still time

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Response to Gothmog (Original post)

Wed Dec 27, 2017, 10:01 AM

Orsino (37,416 posts)

4. Putin knows better than most Americans that Trump will always disappoint.

Always.

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Response to Gothmog (Original post)

Wed Dec 27, 2017, 10:12 AM

Gothmog (91,000 posts)

5. Will the Pee tape be released?

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Response to Gothmog (Original post)

Wed Dec 27, 2017, 11:42 AM

KPN (11,581 posts)

6. I disagree. Putin has succeeded in causing the possible collapse of democracy in the USA.

That's a pretty damned good return on his investment. Didn't read all of it, but from what's included above, the article ignores the fact that this IS Putin's ultimate goal.

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Response to KPN (Reply #6)

Wed Dec 27, 2017, 01:04 PM

Proud Liberal Dem (20,683 posts)

8. And honking off the rest of the planet

and leading to a cut in funding to UN because he's having a temper tantrum because a majority of its members disapproved of something he did.

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Response to Gothmog (Original post)

Wed Dec 27, 2017, 01:02 PM

Xolodno (4,501 posts)

7. Disagree.

1. In the Mid-East, under Obama, it looked like Russia was getting ready to abandon Syria after it left Libya to hang out and dry. Not only has Putin showed in dramatic fashion of rescuing Syria, its now openly talked about that Russia may be the needed stabilizing partner for Libya. Even Turkey is now buddy, buddy with Putin after nearing the brink.

2. Trumps move on Jerusalem and Netanyahu's shortsightedness has put ALL the Arab states in a conundrum and Iran is now emboldened. Plus any peace deal is out of the USA's hands, we can probably broker on behalf of Israel, but being the "neutral" arbitrator is long since gone now. This is going to come back and bite Israel in the ass later while they are too busy cheering "Jerusalem is the recognized capital of Israel by a superpower" without realizing, that superpower is in decline currently and in doing so, won't be able to negotiate better terms for them.

3. In South East Asia, pulling out of trade negotiations, even if they may have been adversarial to an extant, has insured Chinese dominance in the region. Furthermore, in the situation with North Korea, China and Russia are looking like the adults in the room.

4. In Europe, well, now there's a cluster fuck. Eventually Trump will be gone, however, we've proved that a significant portion of our populace is willing to put a "Trump" in office. Which means, we can't always be counted on. For the issues of Georgia and Ukraine, time is on the side of Russia and as long as we struggle to get back on our footing and regain, trust, influence, etc. a lot of time will have passed.

5. Putin may not have gotten the sanctions repealed, but if he did, that would have been the final victory lap, but on everything else, he got what he wanted.

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