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Putin-Trump summit raises hope in Russian political circles

By Adeeb Al-Sayed MOSCOW, July 10 (KUNA) -- The US-Russian summit recently held in Hamburg on the sidelines of the G-20 meetings have raised optimism inside the Russian political circles.
Russian political observers believe that the bilateral summit featuring President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump has opened the door for "cautious" expectations toward potential normalization of ties between the two super powers, despite accumulated problems over the years.
Both sides have agreed on a de-escalation zone southern Syria, which was "one of the breakthroughs" during Friday's talks, as referred to by Putin. They also decided to give a push to efforts to handle the conflict in Ukraine.
Both moves on Syria and Ukraine have reflected a mutual desire to remove the causes of tension in the Russia-US ties.
They have shown that both Putin and Trump are capable of making crucial decisions, with no temporization or procrastination, political analyst said.
Chairman of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev said that the outcome of the summit is a "turn in bilateral relations." Most observers agree that both leaders came out of their summit with mutual admiration.
"As I see it, Television Trump is very different from the real person," Putin said at a press conference in Hamburg Saturday. "He is absolutely concrete, absolutely adequately perceives the interlocutor, quite quickly analyzes, answers questions or draws from the discussions some new elements.
"As regards to personal relations, I think they are established," the Russian president added.
For his part, Trump voiced relief over the explanations he heard from his Russian counterpart on a variety of controversial bilateral issues, and his call to work positively with Moscow.
In fact, the US-Russian relations have been overburdened by several thorny issues, such as the international sanctions on Moscow, the NATO's advance toward the Russian borders, the proposed US missile shield in Eastern Europe, and the dilemma of implementing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) the two countries signed almost three decades ago.
In addition, the latest members in the NATO from East Europe and the Baltic Republics are practicing pressure on Washington to counter what they call the "Russian danger," citing the conflict in Ukraine as s striking example, and Moscow annexing Ukrainian territory of Crimea.
The three states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, strongly believe Russia has "broad" geopolitical cupidity in Europe.
On the other hand, Russia is worried about the NATO's military activities close to its borders.
In the meantime, Russia's fears are growing day after day of the US policy in Afghanistan, where Al-Qaeda-related militant groups and the so-called Islamic State (IS) are expanding under the nose of the US forces in the country.
Moscow has no doubt that these groups are planning to launch wide-scale attacks and raise tension in the Central Asian states of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (along with Kyrgyzstan) that are loyal to Russia.
In a recent briefing, the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova referred to Washington's decision to seize two Russian diplomatic compounds in the US 2016.
In December, the US seized the compounds as then President Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russians over what he said was their involvement in hacking to interfere in the US presidential elections.
Yet, cooperation between Moscow and Washington has proved fruitful in the past, concluding a deal with Iran on Tehran's nuclear program, added to the successful settlement of Syria's chemical weapons, and previously the six-party talks on North Korea's nukes. They also cooperated in Afghanistan, as the Russian territories were once used to provide the US troops with supplies and ammunition.
However, there are several other fields for cooperation, such as climate change, cyber security, organized crime and drug trafficking.
Despite optimism raised by the Trump-Putin summit, fears of reflexive reactions due to the dominant powers at the US Congress seeking to impose further sanctions on Moscow exist, with most American media backing the trend. (end) as.msa