No quick change in US policy expected under Trump – Kremlin

(Interfax – December 21, 2016)

The Kremlin does not expect the USA to abandon plans to expand NATO and bring its infrastructure closer to Russian borders, or to lift sanctions, as soon as Donald Trump takes office in Washington, Vladimir Putin’s press secretary has said.

“We do not expect to successfully resolve all the problems, nor do we expect America to abandon in an instant NATO expansion or bringing NATO infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders,” Dmitry Peskov said in an interview to Mir television channel, as quoted by privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax on 21 December.

“We do not expect sanctions to be lifted in an instant, and we are not raising this issue,” Peskov went on.

However, he continued, the Kremlin has “some hope for a new, fresher and more constructive attitude from the new administration”, namely a willingness to engage in a dialogue with Moscow and take mutual concerns into account.

“We do not know what sort of president Trump will be, nor ! do we know what position he will take on Russia. We have never suffered from excessive unjustified optimism, we have never worn rose-coloured spectacles. We understand perfectly well that any US president will above all defend the interests of his country. And we believe that President Putin too, above all and always, has the interests of his country at heart,” Peskov said.