Will Russian-US relations win from the results of the US elections?

It  will be a reset in US-Russian relations, no doubt now. Simply because US people voted for it. Don’t take me wrong: Russia was the last thing they thought about when they went to vote. But the result is Cristal clear: There will be a reset in US dealing with the world. Unpredictable at times. Messy, quite frequently. But it will be a new, refreshing story, and it will affect Russia in this way.

Will Russian-US relations win from yesterday’s vote? Not necessarily. But they would have definitely lost if Hillary would have won. For Russia, it was a choice between “bad” and “even worse”. Oh yeah, it could have gove much, much worse from today’s very low point.

Starting January 20, opportunities will be there. But both Moscow and Washington should be creative to avoid a messy, fruitless, disappointing reset.

For bilateral arms control, there definitely are positive options now. But no illusions! It would be a hard work, for which both sides should yet to prepare and express political will. New templates will be needed. Arms control, whether one likes it or not, will be closely linked to other strategic bilateral agenda items.

But now there is at least some chance, in bilateral strategic relations, to make a turn from crisis management to a dialogue on reducing confrontation.