Russia vs. U.S. Cold War Is Cancelled?

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While Russian opposition claims that the Kremlin prepares its society for a war against the West, there are reports that we might soon see an improvement in the relations between the United States and Russia.

Staff of Spanish Mil21.es have published an article citing sources in European intelligence about the ongoing talks between Russian and American militaries.

According to the article, the parties are planning to reach a political deal that would decrease NATO’s anti-Russian activity near Ukraine in exchange for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s cooperation on the Middle East.

If the talks are indeed taking place and the article is credible, such a deal would bring down tensions in the relations between the U.S. and Russia, which have recently become as ‘cold’ as in the period of the Cold War.

The parties hold the talks in ‘one of the capitals of Northern Europe with the initiative to conduct the talks coming from the U.S., according to Mil21.es.

Under the alleged deal, Russia would have to back a new “geopolitical structure in the Middle East” that became apparent after the nuclear deal with Iran.

What would the deal mean?

According to the article, the goal of the U.S. is to topple a number of Sunni regimes in the Middle East that refuse to accept the cooperation between the West and Iran as well as to gain a reliable ally to fight ISIS.

Russia would be especially interested in the latter as ISIS is shifting its focus on recruiting the Russians in the most volatile regions of the country, the Caucasus region. The terror network is looking to get established closer to Europe in an attempt to expand its influence, and ultimately be able to reach the American soil.

Besides, the nuclear deal with Iran put Israel against the U.S. since Jerusalem is now unwilling to share its data about ISIS with the CIA, according to the article. That means that the U.S. is forced to open its arms and wait for a new ally in the region.

The article notes that the relations between Moscow and Washington must become less cold in the ‘nearest future’ due to the ongoing secret talks.

It must be noted that the U.S. President Barack Obama earlier ordered U.S. Air Force to target Syrian governmental positions in case forces of Bashar al-Assad intervene the training of Syrian opposition, the aim of which is to battle ISIS.

However, the Mil21.es article could be fake as there is no such information about any ongoing ‘secret talks’ between Russians and Americans in credible media sources.

The bad and the good in Moscow-Washington relations

However, even if the article is fake, it makes you think about the current development of the relations between Washington and Moscow.

The White House and the Kremlin, just like in the ‘70s, are throwing mud at one another today. Both Russian and Western media include the scary words ‘the Cold War’ into their narratives.

And indeed, Russia has been significantly beefing up the number of its modern weapons as well as intimidating the Westerners with names of its new cutting-edge missiles and news about renewing the manufacturing of strategic bombers.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama is actively lobbying sectorial sanctions against Moscow aimed at crippling Russian economy. The U.S. also considers Russia one of the three ‘existential threats’ to the humankind due to its nuclear capability.

All of the above-mentioned makes you think about the prospect of the planet’s peaceful future and global economic changes in the nearest future.

However, if you take a practical view of the relations between Russia and the U.S., you stop fearing for a global military conflict. First of all, it’s a wrong notion that Moscow and Washington halted their strategic partnership, because they have never been such partners in the first place.

In the most ‘friendly’ years of their relations, the trade between Russia and the U.S. barely exceeded $25 billion, which is even ridiculous to compare with the numbers with European countries and China. Despite all difficulties, the countries continue reaching new mutually beneficial deals.

For example, the $1 billion deal to supply missile engines RD-181 for ‘Antares’ missiles was first and foremost aimed at supporting the U.S. space program that is not even a competitor of the Russian space program anymore. Furthermore, the Americans have already surpassed the Russians in some aspects of space programs.

Or the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin wished on August 4 his counterpart Barack Obama happy birthday. It must be understood that hardcore ideological and geopolitical enemies do not exchange happy birthday wishes.

Besides, some officials in the U.S. have repeatedly pointed out the necessity to keep Russia in the civilized world as an economically strong partner.

Russia can’t be U.S. competitor in anything

In its current state, Russian economy is not even close to being a competitor of U.S. economy. The Russia’s GDP loses to the U.S. GDP by 7.5 times. Besides, Russia invests into the development of its military, education, healthcare and infrastructure much less than the U.S.

It all makes you think about the misbalance between the ambitions ascribed to Russia by the media and the actual capabilities of Russia, which are unlikely to expand in the nearest future.

International Monetary Fund forecasts a long-term declining of Russian economy that would eventually turn into a slow growth, 0.2 percent of GDP per year, which is about 20 times less than it is required to have a steady economy development.

American politic experts explain the current tensions in the relations between Moscow and Washington by the upcoming presidential election in 2016, while Russian politic experts explain Russia’s demonization of the U.S. by the crisis and the problems that have followed it.

Therefore, it’s a vicious circle for now. But when this vicious circle is eliminated, the relations between the countries are expected to improve.

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