Some comments from former Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov, who
wrote an op-ed for the government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
"The Trump administration's experience confirms that only a strong
American president, backed by broad and sustained domestic support, is
able to steer relations between Washington and Moscow in a constructive
direction"
"Donald Trump turned out to be, in general, a weak president, with
neither his own program nor stable support in society, and the American
elite remained split all these three and a half years,"
"Moreover, the bulk of the American elite was not on Trump's side.
Against this background, relations with Russia turned into a bargaining
chip, became the subject of speculation, and not a serious balanced policy."
"Trump did not skimp on sharp and even shocking criticism of almost all
of America's allies, the European Union and even NATO,"
"But have relations between Russia and the United States changed for the
better over the past four years? Unfortunately, this question has to be
answered in the negative,"
"It doesn't really matter how Donald Trump feels about Vladimir Putin.
During his presidency, Russian-American relations have not improved in
any dimension. On the contrary, throughout the four years, relations
continued to deteriorate rapidly in all directions. And, unfortunately,
there is no end in sight to this worsening."
"Fierce political struggle within the United States will continue
regardless of the outcome of the elections," Ivanov predicted.
"Therefore, it is difficult to count on any fundamental shifts in
bilateral Russian-American relations. For such shifts, Biden, as far as
one can judge, has neither the political will nor the necessary
political capital."
Still, a President Biden would be more predictable, Ivanov said. "Along
with a tough position on many problems of world politics, one cannot
exclude a balanced position on some issues of strategic stability, and
above all with regard to arms control," he wrote of a possible Biden
presidency.
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https://www.newsweek.com/trump-weak-president-damaged-west-former-russian-diplomat-state-newspaper-1541646>
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