Is Donald Trump seriously getting tough on Vladimir Putin? No one seems to know

Anyone reading tea leaves as to how Trump will handle Putin would be confused

Published April 12, 2017 3:48PM (EDT)

 (Getty/Drew Angerer/Klubovy)
(Getty/Drew Angerer/Klubovy)

In a stunning turn of events, Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks that U.S.-Russian relations is worse off now than it had been under the Obama administration. Almost 100 days into President Donald Trump's first term in office, the U.S. has appeared determined to oppose Russia at every corner.

Under Trump, the U.S. has gone ahead with a missile strike despite protestations from Russia, accused Russia of covering up the chemical attack in Syria, given Russia an ultimatum on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and voted to ratify Montenegro as the newest member of the NATO alliance — not to mention the FBI and congressional investigations into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, which falls outside Trump's purview because his own campaign is also under investigation.

The hostile relationship the U.S. has with Russia seems remarkable considering Trump has been accused of being a Russian puppet who supposedly acted in the best interests of Putin and the Kremlin.

Celebrating a miraculous victory on election night in 2016, Putin and his friends are now left missing Trump's predecessor. Putin has said in confidence that an improvement in U.S.-Russian relations was lower now than it had been under the Obama administration, The Washington Post reported.

“The level of trust at the working level, especially at the military level, has not improved, but most likely has been degraded,” Putin said in remarks on the Mir television channel.

Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov even took a shot at the Trump administration when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with him in Moscow. In his opening remarks, Lavrov said that it was nearly impossible to understand U.S. stances because of all the top positions at the State Department that remain unfilled.


By Taylor Link

MORE FROM Taylor Link


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Barack Obama Donald Trump Russia State Department Syria U.s.-russia Relations Vladimir Putin