Reality vs. Rhetoric: Assessing the Trump Administration's Russia Policy - Where Does Trump the Man Diverge from the Administration? Does the U.S. Have a Coherent Russia Policy Outside of Sanctions‪?‬

This important report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. This discussion focused on what the U.S. Government, and namely the Trump administration, has been saying and doing to address these issues in the context of Russia on a bilateral basis, as well as to see where the rhetoric meets the road. As we know, Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to improve U.S.-Russia relations. Nevertheless, policies thus far during the Trump administration have been less than friendly to Putin's regime, including quietly approving the first sale of lethal arms to Ukraine, which is a departure from the Obama administration's de facto lethal arms embargo. And as we know, the recent escalation of sanctions has further shaken the Kremlin elite. Despite all of this, it's natural to contrast the president's rhetoric with concrete policy achievements. Where does Trump the man diverge from the Trump administration? How does that affect the way Moscow reacts to American policies? Does the United States even have a coherent Russia policy outside of sanctions? And is our relationship to Russia today really any different than it would be under a President Clinton? To speak to some of these questions, as well as placing them in historical context, we have here three distinguished panelists. Herman Pirchner is the founding president of the American Foreign Policy Council. Next is Dr. Alina Polyakova, the David M. Rubenstein fellow in the foreign policy program at the Brookings Institution. And finally, Yulia Latynina, a journalist with Echo Moskvy and Novaya Gazeta, some of the few remaining Russian independent news outlets.

This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

1. Rachel Bauman, Policy Advisor, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe * 2. Herman Pirchner, Jr., President, American Foreign Policy Council * 3. Dr. Alina Polyakova, David M. Rubenstein Fellow, Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution * 4. Yulia Latynina, Journalist, Echo Moskvy and Novaya Gazeta * 5. Discussion

Mr. Pirchner commented: From the time that Trump came into office, there have been a long series of moves that can be regarded only as very unfriendly to the Putin regime. In April 2017, he bombed Syria after Assad's use of chemical weapons, against Russian objections. In August, he signed a bill that placed sanctions on a variety of Russian industries. September 2017, training exercise in the Baltic States.