ALWAYS BET ON THE dEEP sTATE:

Just a couple of months ago, things looked to be going thoroughly President Vladimir Putin's way. The 2016 elections in the United States gave the presidency to Donald Trump--a flamboyant real estate mogul and reality TV star, a nationalist and an isolationist. Throughout his campaign, Trump promised to strike a deal with Putin, repeatedly called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) "obsolete," and appeared ready to weaken long-term US strategic alliances that have constrained Russia since the late 1940s. And last December, in the run up to his inauguration, top members of Trump's team evidently contacted the Russian ambassador to Washington, Sergei Kislyak. The two sides seem to have discussed improving relations and possible sanctions relief. A possible grand deal appeared within reach, which would grant Moscow dominance over Ukraine and the rest of the post-Soviet space and provide Russia a reprieve from economically damaging sanctions. A new world order looked to be emerging, described by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as "post-West" at the recent Munich Security Conference (February 17-19).  [...]

The Trump administration is now seen in Moscow as a disappointment: Team Trump succeeded in spreading early havoc internally and internationally, but failed to move decisively to dismantle sanctions or broker a grand deal with the Kremlin. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced that the country should brace itself for continued sanctions into "the foreseeable future" (Interfax, February 28). The Moscow press has not fully written off Trump as a possible friend of Putin's Russia. But it has been telling the population, "Trump is the victim of a relentless counterattack by the Democratic establishment and the mainstream media, which are whipping up anti-Russian hysteria." Trump has been forced into retreat by his foes, and if he continues to demonstrate weakness, his presidency is doomed (Moskovsky Komsomolets, March 7).

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