The United States has promised to respond to the rude slap of the Kremlin, which could result in a new spiral of sanctions and counter-sanctions, after all, no tramp, no Putin does not want to be considered weak.
Never before in history has occurred one-time expulsion of such a large number diplomato, but this step should not be interpreted as if Vladimir Putin has “lost patience.” The Kremlin does not normally accept rash decisions, even if the latter are fraught with serious risks for Russia.
Expulsion 755 employees of the American diplomatic service of Russia, the President once again wants to show that he does not want to succumb to anyone’s pressure. On the eve of presidential elections (scheduled for March next year) Putin received another tool for strengthening its position in Russian society. In the country, which covered not seen since the cold war, the wave of anti-Americanism, confrontation between Moscow and Washington is “king” a real gift.
The United States appear as a power that wants to destroy Russia, to seize its natural resources and with leaders which it is impossible to establish a dialogue. If trump and Americans are known for their arrogance, Putin and Russian them are not inferior.
Vladimir Putin even made a gesture of “good will”, leaving Moscow, 455 U.S. officers and diplomats — the same as working in America, their Russian colleagues.
In addition, significantly reduced the diplomatic and administrative personnel of the Russian citizens will have even longer to wait for U.S. visas: a few months that will also play a role in the growing anti-American sentiment in the country.
But the most important decision of the Kremlin is that Putin seems to have lost hope of seeing the trump politics, able to participate in the normalization of relations between the two countries in view of the fact that his American colleague involved in numerous scandals, many of which are associated with the so-called Russian interference in the election process allegedly leading Donald trump to power.
In addition, the latest package of sanctions signed by trump, is the notorious policy of the United States: their attempts if not to oust Russia from its leadership position in the natural gas market in Europe, at least seriously to weaken them. They clearly intended to complicate or even prevent the construction of the pipeline “Nord stream 2”, which will link Russia and Germany via the Baltic sea. Under the project, two pipes of this pipeline will transport more than 55 billion cubic meters of fuel per year.
Thus, American companies could export to Europe is extracted from shale gas condensate. Although environmentalists argue that the production of this fuel causes extreme harm to the environment, trump eliminated for her legal barriers. And, if successful, Europe will be for America the main market. So, little Lithuania has replaced Russian gas to American.
If this kind of project will be a success, the port of sines will be of strategic importance, and the construction of a gas pipeline between Spain and France will allow Europe to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and to take a more advantageous position in business negotiations.
In this struggle the European Union cannot be a passive observer, he should try to use the contradictions between Russia and the United States. In some cases, the EU may even act as a mediator and resolve the problematic relations between Washington and Moscow. Everything will depend on the political courage of Brussels.
The United States promised to respond to rude slap that they got from Putin, who demanded the expulsion of diplomats. Their response in this region may not be symmetrical, because then the Russian Embassy and consulates simply remain without employees.
However, there are other responses, particularly in the financial, economic and political spheres, which can lead to unpredictable spiral of sanctions and counter-sanctions, because neither trump nor Putin does not want to be considered weak.
Maybe it’s like a surreal scenario, but I would not be surprised if Putin will give the order to withdraw from the International space station of American astronauts. Will require you to send them to Earth, of course, will not allow you to wander in outer space.
It is a pity that this “new cold war” to distract the public’s attention and not allows to solve international problems of paramount importance such as the war in Syria and Ukraine, the North Korean missile crisis, etc.
