The Russian Federation would like to partner with the United States, but only on its own terms, Dmitry Simes said.
According to TASS, in an article published in The National Interest, its director general, American political scientist Dmitry Simes, expressed the opinion that Russia would like to lift Western sanctions and establish constructive and even partner relations with the United States, but will not make unilateral concessions for this and will agree build such relationships only on their own terms.
“The future of US-Russian relations is largely America’s choice. If the United States cannot agree to anything other than undeniable hegemony, then Russia will undoubtedly become a serious obstacle and will be ready to challenge them”, – the expert is convinced.
In his opinion, sanctions can be a “useful tool” for Washington if their goal is not just “to isolate and weaken Russia”, but to try “to make Russia’s behavior more flexible”.
“However, for this approach to work, Moscow cannot be expected to make major concessions in the vain hope that the West will reciprocate later”, – Simes said, noting that such a scenario would be similar to what happened in the late 1980s during the Gorbachev era.
“To insist that Moscow repeat what many Russians consider to be a disastrous and humiliating approach would be to confuse the desired with the reality”.
In his opinion, Moscow is striving for “more constructive, even partnership relations with the United States”, but it will only build such relations “on its own terms”.