Spotlight: Russia-West relations hard to improve after U.S. policy re-calibration

The possibility of improving the strained Russia-West relations during the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump dimmed after the United States re-calibrated its NATO policy this week.

The latest move came amid a flurry of mixed, if not self-contradicting, messages about the prospect for the improvement in the soured U.S.-Russia relations as Trump showed willingness to normalize the bilateral relations and bombarded NATO as "outdated."

However, senior U.S. officials have recently dismissed policy uncertainties, confirming that their country has been devoted to the transatlantic alliance and a reformed NATO.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told European leaders at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) that his country will "strongly support NATO" and remain "unwavering" to its commitment to the transatlantic bond.

"The U.S. is and will always be your greatest ally," he told the audience in the first major foreign policy address for the Trump administration.

It was also at the annual flagship international security meeting which focuses on the transatlantic alliance that the U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis reassured European leaders that the transatlantic bond is "the strongest bulwark against instability and violence," stressing that his country's security is tied to Europe.

Mattis also warned of the "threat on multiple fronts" in Europe and urged NATO allies to contribute their fair share to the collective defense.

America's closeness with its entrenched ally is in sharp contrast to its suddenly tough posture toward Moscow.

Pence pledged that Washington will "continue hold Russia accountable" even as the Trump administration is searching for new common ground with Kremlin. The United States is also deploying its troops to the Baltic states as part of NATO's operation to support its eastern European allies.

At the MSC, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen stressed that NATO must pursue to find a reliable coexistence with Russia together, "instead of going over our partner's head to pursue bilateral relations," an obvious warning to U.S. unilateral move to develop its Russia ties.

Europe's hostility toward and vigilance against Russia, long deemed a strategic rival and threat, is not difficult to find at the MSC.

The Munich Security Report 2017, which was published ahead of MSC and serves as as a companion and conversation starter for the discussions and background reading for participants, provides an easy glimpse of that mood. The report highlights Russia threats to the West, ranging from Russia's violation of several key principles governing European security and its airstrike in Syria, to Russia's potential missile capability in Kaliningrad and the budget and social media performance of its public international broadcaster Russia Today.

At the MSC, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko warned of Russia's ambition and European leaders' appeasement, which was warmly responded by UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

The UK, Germany and France have all insisted the link of EU economic sanctions on Russia to the implementation of the Minsk agreement, a deal reached on a cease-fire and political settlement of the conflict between government forces and rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Russia, on its part, has shown willingness to seek a "pragmatic and mutual-respect" Russia-U.S. relations. But it has also insisted that the expansion of NATO, a cold-war institution, has led to an unprecedented level of tension over the last three decades in Europe.

The latest U.S. policy shift regarding the transatlantic alliance and Russia came as the "Flynn resignation" storm continues fermentation, plaguing the Trump administration.

Michael Flynn, a U.S. national security adviser, quitted after only over three weeks in the job amid revelations that he misled Pence about his phone calls with the Russian ambassador.

Flynn maintained for weeks that he had not talked about U.S. sanctions in his contacts with the Russian ambassador. He later admitted that the topic may have come up.

Analysts believe that the incident has displayed the conflicting and competing policy strands within the new U.S. administration and highlighted the "structural conflicts" which have been hindering the improvement of the relations between the United States and Russia.

Ruan Zongze, Vice President of the China Institute of International Studies, said the entrenched vested interest groups in areas such as oil and war industries have been opposing the improvement of the thaw in the U.S.-Russia relations. He believed that the bipartisan system has also made the adoption of any concrete pro-Russia policy difficult in the United States.

"To sum up, the Trump presidency does not automatically guarantee the improvement of the U.S.-Russia ties," Ruan said.

Gu Xuewu, head of the Center for Global Studies at the University of Bonn, told Xinhua that the importance the United States attaches to NATO would not change because the organization is the "major handle" that Washington applies to dominate the European and Mideast affairs.

Feng Zhongping, President of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told Xinhua that it is very difficult for the U.S.-EU relations to turn sour, but even more difficult for the U.S.-Russia relations to turn good.

"The United States and Russia has too few common interests and too many structural conflicts," he said, "As long as the NATO exists, it would be difficult for the West-Russia relations to improve significantly." Endi