Does Russia even need good relations with Washington at this point?
It would be no exaggeration to say that presently many backers of Trump's planned New Foreign Policy and détente with Russia are wringing their hands in despair over what has come to look like that policy's utter defeat in the face of the wave of media and Democratic Party attacks, abetted by maverick Republican Senators, in which "Russian contacts" and "Russian meddling" are the code words.
The signs of retreat, even rout are undeniable. Several weeks ago we heard the first of several speeches from the new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley repeating the same tired anti-Russian rhetoric of her predecessor, Samantha Power. Then we heard Defense Secretary Mattis in Bonn, Secretary of State Tillerson in Brussels and Vice President Pence in Munich speaking of unwavering support for NATO and US allies that Donald Trump had questioned during the campaign, even called obsolete. And most recently there was the clarification that Russia has not been invited to attend the conference of the US-led coalition of 68 countries against ISIS being held in Washington, D.C. on March 22-23. Their exclusion would appear to contradict Trump's campaign promise to forge an alliance with Russia to combat and vanquish ISIS.
Comment: Further reading: