Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered 755 US diplomatic staff to leave the country.
What is the background?
This move came few days after the U.S. Senate passed a sanctions Bill targeting Moscow and its allies.
While the investigation into the allegations of Russia’s election-time interference in US is still under way, Congress went ahead preparing the sanctions Bill.
The Bill seeks to limit US President Trump’s ability to suspend or lift sanctions on Russia.
The new sanctions will add to Russia’s economic troubles at a time it is already facing sanctions imposed by Europe and the U.S., and dealing with a commodities slowdown.
Russia has thus opted to retaliate diplomatically.
What is the impact of this?
Russia’s expulsion of U.S. mission staff could lock the two countries into a retaliatory spiral as it signals a serious escalation in tensions between the two superpowers.
The decision also signals that Mr. Putin, who had pinned hopes on the Donald Trump administration to improve ties, is losing heart about such a reset.
Trump himself had expressed interest in building stronger ties with Moscow. But despite Mr. Trump’s approach, the U.S. establishment has continued to take a hard-line position towards Moscow.
What lies before Russia and US?
Whenever Russia and the U.S. joined hands to address the world’s pressing problems in recent years, there were positive results.
The Iran nuclear deal is one example.
The Trump administration’s willingness to work with the Russians in Syria has also helped calm parts of the war-ravaged country.
The ceasefire brokered by Moscow and Washington between the Syrian regime and rebels recently is still holding, raising hopes for a sustainable political solution to the crisis.
Besides, if the U.S. wants to address the North Korean nuclear crisis diplomatically, which is perhaps the biggest foreign policy challenge, it could do with Russia’s help.
Russia is also crucial to stabilising Afghanistan, where US is reportedly arming the Taliban.
But instead of expanding their cooperation and addressing these challenges as responsible global leaders, the nuclear-armed powers seem to have fallen into the old Cold War-era hostility.
