Current US Policy Toward Russia Likely to Remain Unchanged

Experts claim that the United States will unlikely change its policy toward Russia and will continue to pressure Russia as well as maintain an atmosphere of confrontation.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States will unlikely change its policy toward Russia and will continue to pressure Russia as well as maintain an atmosphere of confrontation, experts told Sputnik.

The comments come after Russian President Vladimir Putin held the annual Question and Answer session in Moscow on Thursday in which he said that the United States is seeking vassals rather than equal partners, and Russia is not interested in such relations.

Ohio State University Professor Emeritus John Quigley told Sputnik on Thursday that all political factions in the United States support the approach President Barack Obama has taken toward Russia.

“At this time, it does not seem likely that the United States will change its approach,” Quigley said.

On Thursday, Putin noted that the Soviet Union tried after World War II tried to impose its development model on other countries and failed.

Putin stated that the United States is now acting in a similar fashion, trying to impose its model on the whole world, and the approach will end in failure.

University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) Political Science Professor Henry Srebrnik told Sputnik that Putin was right to point that matters out as well as to outline his positions on other issues.

“He [Putin] was also clear in declaring that he supports the sovereignty of Ukraine and, despite what many believe, has no wish to dismember it,” Srebrnik said. “However, these reasoned positions will probably not change many minds in Washington, Ottawa and other capitals.”

Quigley stressed that Washington needs to restore relations with Moscow as there is no reason that the interests of both countries could not be accommodated.

“The United States should engage with Russia at the diplomatic level, rather than using economic sanctions and military exercises to pressure Russia,” he said.

Quigley argued that the Crimea issue has led the United States to adopt pressure tactics.

“I think the United States should instead consider the Crimea issue in light of Crimea’s historical status and the desires of Crimea’s population,” Quigley explained.

The professor also said that it is unsound to keep relations between the two countries tense in the long run.

“[I]t is untenable to maintain an atmosphere of confrontation for a long period. At some point, the United States will want to move on and have a more normal relation with Russia,” Quigley concluded.

Moscow's relations with the West worsened after the reunification of Crimea with Russia in March 2014 following a popular referendum.

The United States, the European Union and their allies accused Russia of illegally annexing Crimea as well as fuelling the armed conflict in Southeastern Ukraine, and introduced a series of economic sanctions against Russia. Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusations.