Putin, Trump agree on normalization of US-Russia relations

Putin, Trump agree on normalization of US-Russia relations. November. 16, 2016 07:11. by Jung-Min Dong ditto@donga.com.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation on Monday and agreed to mend two countries’ tense relations.

The Kremlin said on Monday, “U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed that two countries’ relationship is unsatisfactory, and two countries should make efforts to return to a pragmatic and mutually beneficial relationship, marking 210th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two.” A representative of Trump also revealed the two leaders had agreed to have more frequent phone talks and working groups of two countries would meet soon to discuss how to stimulate cooperation.

Putin said, “Russia is ready for building a new partnership with the new U.S. administration on the basis of mutual respect and non-intervention into each other’s internal affairs.” Putin requested Trump to observe his policies promised during the campaign. During the presidential campaign, Trump nuanced that the U.S. would walk away from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which stands against Russia.

Trump said he wanted to establish strong and continuous bilateral ties with Russia. On the contrary, during a meeting with President Barack Obama on Friday last week, he showed his willingness and commitment to keeping NATO strong, a clear contradiction to what Putin wished.

The Washington Post reported that Trump emphasized on stronger cooperation during phone talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping, putting their rocky relationships behind. The Washington Posted analyzed that this could be a calculated diplomatic effort of Trump.