The Trump-Putin summit cannot save frozen U.S.-Russia relationship: Commentary

China Plus Published: 2018-07-18 00:34:05
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In the wake of the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, a Chinese-language commentary released online points out that if the United States doesn't give up its consistent stance of hegemony and unilateralism, such summits, no matter how many times they are held, cannot thaw the frozen relationship between the two countries.

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua]

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua]

The new edition of "Commentaries on International Affairs (国际锐评)" notes that, although the two presidents voiced their satisfaction with the meeting, thorny problems between the two countries remain.

The commentary suggests that the U.S.-Russia relationship is complicated, with a number of contradictions roughly divided into two categories. One is conflict of interest, which can be solved through negotiation and compromise. The other is value conflict that will be difficult to reconcile in the short term. Taking the different viewpoints between the U.S. and Russia on Ukraine as an example, the commentary says this is a historical value conflict. For Russia, the issue of Crimea is the "last line" to defend its own interest. The U.S., on the other hand, takes Russia's action in Crimea as "aggression" which poses a severe threat to the security of Europe as a whole. The commentary says no sign of concessions can be seen from either side on this issue.

It further points out that distrust dominates the U.S.-Russia relationship. It says the distrust originated with the Cold War, but hasn't disappeared since the end of that period. From then until now, squeezing the space Russia considers vital to its strategic survival has been the consistent policy of all U.S. governments. In particular, the eastward enlargement of NATO has led to a gradual change in Putin's attitude towards the U.S. and NATO, from seeking full membership of the G8 and being open to cooperation with NATO to drifting away from the West.

With regard to the international order, the commentary notes that Russia advocates a multipolar world, while the U.S. is reluctant to give up its goal of global hegemony. Economically, Russia favors free trade and multilateralism, while the U.S. is willing to provoke trade wars regardless of its own losses.

The commentary states that besides the hot and difficult issues such as Ukraine, Syria and Iran, the U.S. and Russia, in the hope of warming up their relationship, will have to focus more on the complicated political ecology in the U.S. Just two days before the summit, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it was charging 12 Russian intelligence officers who were accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. Many U.S. officials also took the opportunity to strongly oppose the Trump-Putin summit.

Despite the pressure, Trump landed in Finland. As the commentary points out, Trump used the summit as a build-up to the mid-term elections in November, as well as making use of Putin to put pressure on NATO countries in order to increase the bargaining power of the U.S. on issues including military expenditure.

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LU Xiankun Professor LU Xiankun is Managing Director of LEDECO Geneva and Associate Partner of IDEAS Centre Geneva. He is Emeritus Professor of China Institute for WTO Studies of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and Wuhan University (WHU) of China and visiting professor or senior research fellow of some other universities and think tanks in China and Europe. He also sits in management of some international business associations and companies, including as Senior Vice President of Shenzhen UEB Technology LTD., a leading e-commerce company of China. Previously, Mr. LU was senior official of Chinese Ministry of Commerce and senior diplomat posted in Europe, including in Geneva as Counsellor and Head of Division of the Permanent Mission of China to the WTO and in Brussels as Commercial Secretary of the Permanent Mission of China to the EU. Benjamin Cavender Benjamin Cavender is a Shanghai based consultant with more than 11 years of experience helping companies understand consumer behavior and develop go to market strategies for China. He is a frequent speaker on economic and consumer trends in China and is often featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Channel News Asia. Sara Hsu Sara Hsu is an associate professor from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She is a regular commentator on Chinese economy. Xu Qinduo Xu Qinduo is CRI's former chief correspondent to Washington DC, the United States. He works as the producer, host and commentator for TODAY, a flagship talk show on current affairs. Mr. Xu contributes regularly to English-language newspapers including Shenzhen Daily and Global Times as well as Chinese-language radio and TV services. Lin Shaowen A radio person, Mr. Lin Shaowen is strongly interested in international relations and Chinese politics. As China is quite often misunderstood in the rest of the world, he feels the need to better present the true picture of the country, the policies and meanings. So he talks a lot and is often seen debating. Then friends find a critical Lin Shaowen criticizing and criticized. George N. Tzogopoulos Dr George N. Tzogopoulos is an expert in media and politics/international relations as well as Chinese affairs. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre International de Européenne (CIFE) and Visiting Lecturer at the European Institute affiliated with it and is teaching international relations at the Department of Law of the Democritus University of Thrace. George is the author of two books: US Foreign Policy in the European Media: Framing the Rise and Fall of Neoconservatism (IB TAURIS) and The Greek Crisis in the Media: Stereotyping in the International Press (Ashgate) as well as the founder of chinaandgreece.com, an institutional partner of CRI Greek. David Morris David Morris is the Pacific Islands Trade and Investment Commissioner in China, a former Australian diplomat and senior political adviser. Harvey Dzodin After a distinguished career in the US government and American media Dr. Harvey Dzodin is now a Beijing-based freelance columnist for several media outlets. While living in Beijing, he has published over 200 columns with an emphasis on arts, culture and the Belt & Road initiative. He is also a sought-after speaker and advisor in China and abroad. He currently serves as Nonresident Research Fellow of the think tank Center for China and Globalization and Senior Advisor of Tsinghua University National Image Research Center specializing in city branding. Dr. Dzodin was a political appointee of President Jimmy Carter and served as lawyer to a presidential commission. Upon the nomination of the White House and the US State Department he served at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria. He was Director and Vice President of the ABC Television in New York for more than two decades.