Interfax: Policy expert pins blame for problems in Russia-U.S. relations on uncertainty

MOSCOW. Nov 15 (Interfax) – The absence of definitely positive relations between Russia and the United States does not obstruct their active cooperation in the resolution of international crises, Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (CFDP) Chairman Fyodor Lukyanov said.

“The absence of positive relations between the two countries does not stop them from doing active work on the Syrian, Iranian and Afghan issues. Everything is all right in the field of classic diplomacy: Russia and America are working together – either against each other or with each other, and that is an active process,” Lukyanov told Interfax.

The 80th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between Russia (the USSR) and the United States will be observed on November 16. “Looking back into 80 years of our relationship, we can see that it is not at an extreme point now. There have been mixed trends in the bilateral relations during that period: there have been moments when the Soviet Union and America seriously feared the unleashing of a nuclear war and there have been moments we had the impression that we could almost be allies,” Lukyanov said.

“The current situation is sort of in the middle, this is sort of a plateau, which is not very high but which is also far from the lows in which we had once found ourselves. The present-day problem of Russian-American relations is not that they are particularly good or bad but that they are uncertain,” he continued.

“The relations had an agenda for most part of this 80-year period and it was clearly formulated; it could be either positive or negative but its parameters were apparent for both sides. We are neither enemies nor friends now; we are neither allies nor adversaries. This is the state of uncertainty in which the old relations molded by the Cold War have stopped being relevant and new relations have yet to be shaped. Both countries are passing through a transitional period; both Russia and America are facing challenges to which they still do not know an answer, and both Russia and America do not quite understand what they will be in 10-15 years. I think we cannot expect certainty in bilateral relations until we have an insight into what path we each are taking,” the expert said.

“This does not rule out active work, not on the bilateral level but on the global scene, in the settlement of certain international crises,” he concluded.