Russia Wants to Make Things Right After Their Hard Break Up With the U.S.
WASHINGTON D.C. - As Trump is in office, President of Russia, Vladimir Putin is in high gear to mend broken relations with the U.S.
According to a Buzzfeed news report, it obtained a document from a Russian diplomat that was sent to the US state department proposing for the US to restore all channels of foreign relations with Russia. This document was allegedly sent three months after Trump took office but wasn't mentioned until the Buzzfeed news report on Wednesday. According to the document, a proposed normalization was to take place prior to the first meeting between Putin and Trump.
Spokeswoman Heather Nauert neither confirmed nor denied this claim by Buzzfeed, however Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed it’s authentic. Peskov claimed that Russia has pushed for a normalization with the U.S. on areas of mutual relations, stating, “Moscow systematically advocated for a resumption of the dialogue, for an exchange of opinion and for attempts at finding joint solutions.”
The channels Russia speaks of restoring include diplomatic, military, and intelligence channels. Many of these were severed in 2014 with Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine and intervention in Syria. Also, including in this document, was a proposal for the US and Russia to collaborate on information security, consalt about Afghanistan, Iran, Ukraine, North Korea, meet between top national security officials, and denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Days following the new Trump administration, U.S. relations with Russia have soured which has shocked many due to Trump’s repetitive claim of mending relations with Russia.
In early August, Trump claimed that relations with Russia were at an all time low and were very dangerous. Putin demanded that the US must cut diplomatic staff in Russia by 755 people. A delayed response from Russia for the seizure and expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats by the Obama administration and the signing of new sanctions on Russia due to meddling with the 2016 presidential election. Congress has since passed a measure to restrict the Trump administration’s ability to lift sanctions on Russia.
According to Scott Olson, a retired FBI agent, however the U.S. decides to respond, Russia will benefit either way. Stating, “Regardless of U.S. response the Russians end up better off, either with a compliant U.S. or an embattled U.S.” Peskov has further claimed that any meetings for a solution of mutual areas have proved no success. Stating, “Unfortunately, it saw no reciprocity.”
