- The US will send arms to Ukraine, leading Russia to say it has "crossed the line"
- A slew of actions highlights a decided turn away from the warmer relationship that Trump called for during his campaign
- The US will send arms to Ukraine, leading Russia to say it has "crossed the line"
- A slew of actions highlights a decided turn away from the warmer relationship that Trump called for during his campaign
Today in politics
begin quote from:
Winter is coming: US-Russia relations get chilly
Despite Trump's hopes, US-Russia relations are getting chilly
Putin: US-Russia ties worse under Trump
Despite Trump's hopes, US-Russia relations are getting chilly
Story highlights
Washington (CNN)In
the space of a week, the Trump administration has named Russia a "rival
power," sanctioned a close Putin ally, and decided to give Ukraine
anti-tank weapons to help in its fight against Moscow-backed militias.
It's
a series of steps that has been paired with tougher rhetoric from the
State Department about Moscow's destabilizing activities in eastern
Ukraine, and serious charges from the Pentagon that Russia is
intentionally violating de-confliction agreements in Syria.
The
slew of actions highlights a decided turn away from the warmer, more
cooperative relationship with Russia that President Donald Trump called
for during his campaign and early in his presidency.
As
Trump nears the one-year mark in office, a number of factors have
intruded on those plans. He has been hemmed in by the domestic political
constraint of an ongoing investigation into Russia's interference with
the 2016 election, as well as a widespread distrust of Russia and its
continuing cyber activities that persists among the intelligence
community, diplomats, the Pentagon and lawmakers.
'Pretty confrontational'
Those
close to Trump who advocated for more cooperation with Moscow have been
shown the White House door. And national security positions across the
administration are now staffed with people, including at the Cabinet
level, who have expressed more cautious and traditional views of Russia.
"We're a year in, and it's
looking like we've settled on a Russia policy and that Russia policy is
pretty confrontational," said Matt Rojansky, director of the Kennan
Institute at the Wilson Center. "It's definitely not the policy you
would have expected from Trump the candidate. I think even the Russians
understand the idea of a rapprochement is off the table."
Moreover, Rojansky adds, the signs point to increasing tensions in 2018. "There's drama ahead," he said.
The
State Department announced the decision to provide Ukraine with
"enhanced defensive capabilities" on December 22, just days after the
administration had announced it would permit Ukraine to buy some small
arms from US manufacturers.
The
same day, the Pentagon accused Russia of intentionally violating an
agreement intended to prevent accidents in the skies over Syria,
following a recent unsafe encounter between US F-22s and Russian Su-25
jets.
"Russia is failing to genuinely de-conflict airspace in Syria. Some of these incidents are not mistakes,"
Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Dana W. White told CNN. Defense Secretary
James Mattis told reporters, "I don't expect perfection, but I don't
expect dangerous maneuvers, either."
The
decision to send arms to Ukraine, long sought by leaders there and
backed by many in Congress, comes as violent clashes between Ukrainian
soldiers and Russian-backed separatists have increased. Russia's Deputy
Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Saturday that with the move, the US
was "pushing [Ukraine] to new bloodshed."
"The
United States, in a certain sense, had crossed the line," Ryabkov said,
from acting as an intermediary to "fueling the war." The US weapons
could lead to "new victims in our neighboring country, to which we
cannot remain indifferent," the foreign minister warned.
The State Department said in a statement that the assistance,
which an official told CNN would include Javelin anti-tank missiles, is
"entirely defensive in nature" and that the US remains committed to the
Minsk agreements, a roadmap for resolving the conflict.
'The source of violence'
The problem, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said this week, lies entirely with Russia.
"Russia
and its proxies are the source of violence in eastern Ukraine," Nauert
said December 19. "The Russian Government continues to perpetuate an
active conflict and humanitarian crisis through its leadership and
supply of military forces on the ground, as well as its direct control
over proxy authorities."
A day
later, the administration announced new sanctions on three Russians and
two Chechens, including Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Russian
republic of Chechnya and a close Putin ally, for human rights abuses.
That
generated the threat of "tit-for-tat" retaliation from the speaker of
Russia's lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin. "The principle of reciprocity
will be observed," Volodin said, according to the state news agency,
TASS.
All this followed the administration's National Security Strategy,
released Monday, which said that Russia wants to shape a world
antithetical to US values and interests, and aims to weaken Washington's
international influence, and "divide us from our allies and partners."
It amounted to enshrining, in a formal document, the antithesis of Trump's long-stated goal of warmer ties to Russia.
Putin called the strategy "aggressive" and said Russia would have to take it into account.
Clapper: Russia is handling Trump as an 'asset' 04:58
In contrast to the written National Security Strategy, when Trump delivered his speech
outlining it, he omitted the written document's denunciation of Russian
election interference and instead, focused on a friendly phone call
he'd had with Putin.
That contrast
is emblematic of the year-long tug-of-war within the administration,
said Angela Stent, director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and
Eastern European Studies at Georgetown University.
"What
we've seen all year really is the dual policy of President Trump
wanting to have a much closer relationship with Putin," and the trio of
Defense Secretary James Mattis, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster
and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson "drawing a pretty tough line,"
Stent said.
Tillerson, deeply
experienced with Russia from his days as ExxonMobil CEO, laid out a
three-pronged policy for dealing with Moscow that involved pushing back
where necessary, cooperating with Russia where it is in US interests to
do so, and working to establish strategic stability.
The
State Department held a few talks with Russian officials to try to get
the relationship on firmer footing after the election and ongoing
tension over each country's seizure of some of the other country's
diplomatic properties. Those have either stopped or the administration
is no longer announcing them. The State Department did not respond to
requests for comment by the time of publication.
"My
sense is that they're beginning to realize that it's just very
difficult to get anything done with Russia," Stent said. "And the
Russians haven't diminished the kind of cyber activities" they were
doing during the election campaign, she added.
During
his speech about the National Security Strategy, Trump said Putin had
thanked him for information that helped thwart a planned terrorist
attack in St. Petersburg. The cooperation was "a great thing," Trump
said, "and the way it's supposed to work."
But
it doesn't look like it will be working that way any time soon.
"Whether the President has abandoned his obviously strongly held view
that Putin is someone we should be working with, I can't say," Rojansky
said, "but the administration has absolutely not made that a centerpiece
of its foreign policy."
Story highlights
Washington (CNN)In
the space of a week, the Trump administration has named Russia a "rival
power," sanctioned a close Putin ally, and decided to give Ukraine
anti-tank weapons to help in its fight against Moscow-backed militias.
It's
a series of steps that has been paired with tougher rhetoric from the
State Department about Moscow's destabilizing activities in eastern
Ukraine, and serious charges from the Pentagon that Russia is
intentionally violating de-confliction agreements in Syria.
The
slew of actions highlights a decided turn away from the warmer, more
cooperative relationship with Russia that President Donald Trump called
for during his campaign and early in his presidency.
As
Trump nears the one-year mark in office, a number of factors have
intruded on those plans. He has been hemmed in by the domestic political
constraint of an ongoing investigation into Russia's interference with
the 2016 election, as well as a widespread distrust of Russia and its
continuing cyber activities that persists among the intelligence
community, diplomats, the Pentagon and lawmakers.
'Pretty confrontational'
Those
close to Trump who advocated for more cooperation with Moscow have been
shown the White House door. And national security positions across the
administration are now staffed with people, including at the Cabinet
level, who have expressed more cautious and traditional views of Russia.
"We're a year in, and it's
looking like we've settled on a Russia policy and that Russia policy is
pretty confrontational," said Matt Rojansky, director of the Kennan
Institute at the Wilson Center. "It's definitely not the policy you
would have expected from Trump the candidate. I think even the Russians
understand the idea of a rapprochement is off the table."
Moreover, Rojansky adds, the signs point to increasing tensions in 2018. "There's drama ahead," he said.
The
State Department announced the decision to provide Ukraine with
"enhanced defensive capabilities" on December 22, just days after the
administration had announced it would permit Ukraine to buy some small
arms from US manufacturers.
The
same day, the Pentagon accused Russia of intentionally violating an
agreement intended to prevent accidents in the skies over Syria,
following a recent unsafe encounter between US F-22s and Russian Su-25
jets.
"Russia is failing to genuinely de-conflict airspace in Syria. Some of these incidents are not mistakes,"
Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Dana W. White told CNN. Defense Secretary
James Mattis told reporters, "I don't expect perfection, but I don't
expect dangerous maneuvers, either."
The
decision to send arms to Ukraine, long sought by leaders there and
backed by many in Congress, comes as violent clashes between Ukrainian
soldiers and Russian-backed separatists have increased. Russia's Deputy
Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Saturday that with the move, the US
was "pushing [Ukraine] to new bloodshed."
"The
United States, in a certain sense, had crossed the line," Ryabkov said,
from acting as an intermediary to "fueling the war." The US weapons
could lead to "new victims in our neighboring country, to which we
cannot remain indifferent," the foreign minister warned.
The State Department said in a statement that the assistance,
which an official told CNN would include Javelin anti-tank missiles, is
"entirely defensive in nature" and that the US remains committed to the
Minsk agreements, a roadmap for resolving the conflict.
'The source of violence'
The problem, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said this week, lies entirely with Russia.
"Russia
and its proxies are the source of violence in eastern Ukraine," Nauert
said December 19. "The Russian Government continues to perpetuate an
active conflict and humanitarian crisis through its leadership and
supply of military forces on the ground, as well as its direct control
over proxy authorities."
A day
later, the administration announced new sanctions on three Russians and
two Chechens, including Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Russian
republic of Chechnya and a close Putin ally, for human rights abuses.
That
generated the threat of "tit-for-tat" retaliation from the speaker of
Russia's lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin. "The principle of reciprocity
will be observed," Volodin said, according to the state news agency,
TASS.
All this followed the administration's National Security Strategy,
released Monday, which said that Russia wants to shape a world
antithetical to US values and interests, and aims to weaken Washington's
international influence, and "divide us from our allies and partners."
It amounted to enshrining, in a formal document, the antithesis of Trump's long-stated goal of warmer ties to Russia.
Putin called the strategy "aggressive" and said Russia would have to take it into account.
Clapper: Russia is handling Trump as an 'asset' 04:58
In contrast to the written National Security Strategy, when Trump delivered his speech
outlining it, he omitted the written document's denunciation of Russian
election interference and instead, focused on a friendly phone call
he'd had with Putin.
That contrast
is emblematic of the year-long tug-of-war within the administration,
said Angela Stent, director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and
Eastern European Studies at Georgetown University.
"What
we've seen all year really is the dual policy of President Trump
wanting to have a much closer relationship with Putin," and the trio of
Defense Secretary James Mattis, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster
and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson "drawing a pretty tough line,"
Stent said.
Tillerson, deeply
experienced with Russia from his days as ExxonMobil CEO, laid out a
three-pronged policy for dealing with Moscow that involved pushing back
where necessary, cooperating with Russia where it is in US interests to
do so, and working to establish strategic stability.
The
State Department held a few talks with Russian officials to try to get
the relationship on firmer footing after the election and ongoing
tension over each country's seizure of some of the other country's
diplomatic properties. Those have either stopped or the administration
is no longer announcing them. The State Department did not respond to
requests for comment by the time of publication.
"My
sense is that they're beginning to realize that it's just very
difficult to get anything done with Russia," Stent said. "And the
Russians haven't diminished the kind of cyber activities" they were
doing during the election campaign, she added.
During
his speech about the National Security Strategy, Trump said Putin had
thanked him for information that helped thwart a planned terrorist
attack in St. Petersburg. The cooperation was "a great thing," Trump
said, "and the way it's supposed to work."
But
it doesn't look like it will be working that way any time soon.
"Whether the President has abandoned his obviously strongly held view
that Putin is someone we should be working with, I can't say," Rojansky
said, "but the administration has absolutely not made that a centerpiece
of its foreign policy."
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