ISW: Putin is trying to influence Trump’s policy and wants to reset relations with the US on Russian terms

Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to shape the foreign policy of the newly elected US President Donald Trump and achieve another reset of Russian-American relations on Russian terms. This is stated in the report of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Putin spoke at the 21st annual meeting of the Valdai Debate Club on November 7 and called for a reset of Russian-American relations. He said Trump’s presidential campaign had expressed a “desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis,” and later noted that Russia was open to “the possibility of restoring relations with the United States.”

At the same time, Putin tried to blame the US for undermining Russian-American relations, noting that Washington imposed sanctions and restrictions on Russia and decided to support Kyiv – without mentioning that these measures were in response to Russia’s illegal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

According to analysts, it follows from Putin’s statement that Russia will agree to a reset of Russian-American relations only on the condition that the United States cancels sanctions and restrictions against Russia and stops supporting Ukraine – in fact, on terms that benefit Russia at the expense of the interests of the United States.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly congratulated Donald Trump on his election as President of the United States. He called Trump a “courageous man” and said he wouldn’t mind calling him.

Donald Trump won the US presidential elections, the change of administration and transfer of power should take place on January 20.

In an interview with NBC after the election, Donald Trump said that he does not reject dialogue with Vladimir Putin. But he did not announce any deadlines or expectations for this conversation.

In September, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Before the talks began, Trump said he would work with both Ukraine and Russia to end the war. At the time, he also claimed to have “very good relations” with both Zelensky and Putin.