Russian President Putin. TASS
Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg: Putin's Ultimatum to the Next U.S. President
The next U.S. administration will inherit the worst relationship with Russia since Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire. Judging from the list of grievances that President Vladimir Putin has laid out, even a relatively Putin-friendly Donald Trump will have a hard time satisfying him.
Putin delivered his message to the future U.S. president Monday, just as the U.S. State Department announced it was suspending negotiations with Russia on a ceasefire in Syria and Russia-backed Syrian troops moved to take more ground in Aleppo. In a bill submitted to parliament, Putin threatened to end a joint U.S.-Russian disarmament program -- in which surplus weapons-grade plutonium is processed into fuel -- unless the U.S. meets certain conditions:
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WNU editor: In the current environment none of these demands will be met .... and will not be met by the next U.S. President. This list is directed more at the Russian public .... and to maintain Russian President Putin's image of being "tough". To put it bluntly .... if Moscow wants to have better relations with the West, this list of demands is a non-starter. Then again .... Putin may have taken a page from Donald Trump's book "The Art Of The Deal". Ask for the moon, and be happy if you get at least something.
