Is The 'Honeymoon' Between President Trump And Russian President Putin Over?

Reuters: For Trump, the honeymoon with Putin may be finally over

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin tossed President-elect Donald Trump a bouquet in December when he chose not to retaliate for the U.S. expulsion of Russian diplomats and seizure of Russian diplomatic compounds.

The honeymoon is over.

Russia's tit-for-tat decision to expel hundreds of U.S. diplomats and seize two U.S. compounds may be an acknowledgment in Moscow that Trump's ability to bring better ties is limited, at best, and the start of a new downward spiral in relations.

Russia took the step after the U.S. Senate on Thursday sent a breath-taking signal that it does not trust Trump on Russia by passing a bill that imposes new sanctions on Moscow and ties the president's hands if he seeks to ease them.

The White House issued a statement on Friday night saying Trump had negotiated changes to the legislation and now intends to sign it.

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WNU editor: As much as Reuters likes to push the "honeymoon" angle .... truth be told there never was a "honeymoon". What does exist is an understanding that (IMHO) was reached at the G20 Summit in Germany that both the U.S. and Russia have shared interests, and that they should work as closely as possible on those issues where progress can be reached. In regards to sanctions .... the Kremlin is not stupid. They understand American politics extremely well, and they had a pretty good idea that this sanctions bill was going to be adopted at some point by the Congress in the future. Their focus was more on President Trump, and what did he think of these new sanctions, and what was he going to do about it. Again .... I am sure that in their private G20 talks both Putin and Trump discussed a lot of things .... sanctions and the issue of Russian properties and number of diplomats permitted was one of them .... and from those talks certain deals were made. How do I know .... Russian President Putin clearly looked relieved when those talks were over, super relaxed during the G20 supper, and doubly so when he got back to Moscow. And in terms of tangible actions. Cutting-off CIA funds to the Syrian rebels was probably one of those deals. A ratcheting-down of U.S.-Russian air encounters near the Russian border has also occurred (but not widely reported). And as for today's Kremlin announcement that US diplomats must leave and two U.S.  properties would revert back to the Russian state .... again .... I am sure that President Trump was told by Putin during the G20 and in subsequent phone calls that he has his own constituency to satisfy, and  that he will have to do something if an agreement could not be reached. Well .... that day arrived today .... but what surprised me was that while this story was extensively covered in both the U.S. and Russia .... I did not sense any anger from both Washington or Moscow on it. On the contrary .... the absence of it is what I noticed.

One more point. In the above Reuters post they are quoting numerous American foreign policy experts that Moscow no longer takes President Trump seriously .... that he cannot deliver what Russia wants. I find this coverage to be very strange .... because I listen/read/and watch very closely the news in Russia .... they are saying the exact opposite. Their ire is directed at Congress, the foreign policy establishment in Washington (which Reuters is eager to quote from), and the expectation that the EU will now respond because these sanctions impact them just as much as they will impact Russia .... ‘We told you so’: EU reaps bitter harvest of siding with US in sanctions row – Russia’s UN envoy (RT). And in regards to President Trump .... a general understanding that he took a bad situation and made sure that it did not get worse. For one who closely studies what Russian media says .... I have to say that their treatment of President Trump was one with "kid-gloves" .... and that is probably the big story here.