I remember saying this a few years ago. Relations between Russia and the United States will be better under the Biden administration than under Trump (which is a good thing for global stability).
Seven months into the Biden administration, we’ve seen:
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Biden-Putin summit where Biden was spoken favorably by Putin, Russian state TV news (for domestic consumption) and Kremlin stations.
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Lifting US sanctions on the Russian-German Nordstream 2 pipeline despite objections from Ukraine and Poland.
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A Russian-American discussion on the creation of an electronic cooperation protocol for extradition and cooperative security operations.
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Re-establishing communications and military advisory systems between the Russian and American forces in Syria.
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Now-> we are witnessing a debate on a joint agreement between Russia and America on climate change to counteract the decline of the Arctic.
The question is: why such a positive tone all of a sudden? Does this remind us of “reset?”
My theory: US foreign policy makers are concerned about the rapid rise of Chinese influence. The growing Russian-Chinese partnership gives China very powerful resources to support its growth.
These policymakers have decided that the Russian state is the “lesser of two evils” and by concluding cooperation agreements with Russia, they can pull Russia away from its growing partnership with China and cause a rift in Russia-China relations.
At the moment, due to US sanctions, China is Russia’s largest partner. By re-establishing positive relations with Russia, Russia has more options and can reintegrate with the West while putting pressure on China.
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