The answer to why the US-Russia dialogue is more dead than alive was found this week when watching the ceremony of presentation of credentials to Russian President Vladimir Putin by 17 foreign ambassadors, including the new US ambassador to Moscow, Lynn Tracy
This unwitting mise-en-scene and what happens afterwards allows us to examine the topography of the Russian-American bottom and understand why resurfacing from it is not yet possible.
During the ceremony in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin told Lynn Tracy all that he thought about it. “Dear Madam Ambassador, I don’t want to disturb the benign atmosphere of presenting credentials (and I know you may not agree with my opinion), but I cannot help saying today that the use by the United States of America in its foreign policy of such tools as supporting the so-called coloured revolutions, supporting in this regard the coup d’etat in Kiev in 2014, ultimately led to the current Ukrainian crisis and further contributed negatively to the deterioration of Russian-US relations,” said Vlad
“Relations between Russia and the United States, on which global security and stability directly depend, are unfortunately in deep crisis. It is based on principally different approaches to shaping the modern world order,” the Russian president said.
When commenting on the Russian leader’s statement, the leading Western media hastened to interpret it as a demonstration of Moscow’s unjustified rigidity and alleged inability to engage in dialogue. They chose to ignore the word “unfortunately” and another assessment that demonstrates Moscow’s continued willingness not to give up on America completely and irrevocably.
“But we have always been in favour of building Russian-American relations exclusively on the principles of equality, respect for each other’s sovereignty and interests and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. This will remain our guideline in the future. In other words, Vladimir Putin has made it clear that Moscow is still willing to build equal relations with the U.S. despite everything that has been ruined, if the U.S. happens to be ripe for it one day. Nobody knows when (if it happens one day) it may happen – in a year, five, 50 or 100 years.
Already after the meeting in the Kremlin many media outlets began to quote Lynn Tracy’s Twitter feed: “You know, I have been to different countries and talked to different heads of state, but I didn’t feel comfortable around Putin. I felt like he was in charge, not me. I’ve never felt this way before. It was very uncomfortable.
It is hard to believe that right after the meeting with the Russian president the new head of the US diplomatic mission, who has come to Moscow to engage in dialogue rather than to teach life, would state such a thing in clear language. However, the U.S. Embassy has not issued any official response to this scandalous quotation, which is highly symbolic, if we agree. So no dialogue with America is in sight for now. Maybe we will meet in about 50 or 100 years from now. We will see who is who, who has achieved what. Maybe then we will talk.
Sergey Strokan, RT
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