Trump never wanted anything to do with Ukraine -that was the first thing that aroused my suspicions- and I remember him saying 'the Germans should be doing more', but what kind of leverage does Berlin really have in dealing from a position of weakness with the EU crumbling, Islamic invasion underway, and Russia has all the oil/gas and military power?
A bit one-sided once American walks-away. And aren't all NATO members obligated to consolidate/coordinate policy, even re. the Donbas?
The current GOP front-runner has said the trouble is Putin doesn't respect Obama -but he would Trump, of course- so he feels can 'deal' with the Kremlin and come out ahead- and perhaps he could. The emerging Cold War II surely springs from Obama Administration weakness, kissing Russian ass while they barely attempt to conceal their contempt. Yet Trump went so far as to predict he'd 'get on very well with Putin'.
But The Donald shouldn't be so breezily blessing Putin's turning Latakia, Syria into another Crimea -bristling with Russian military hardware (and troops now apparently)- this development is a disaster in my opinion, the Russians have been vying for this kind of power in the Middle East for 70 years. Obama was basically just a welcome mat they walked right over and wiped their feet on- it's humiliating.
I'm sure Putin and his ME allies -Assad, Hezbollah, Hamas, and IRAN-
won't attempt to drive up the price of oil or anything.
Trump has also said he'll be a great friend to Israel- why not ask them what they think of a new Russian-Hezbollah alliance creeping-up on their northern border.
For me there is no single issue Trump is so off on as thinking we can trust or should support any Russian military adventurism based on their justifications rendered alone... the Russians are out for the Russians, they're not going to save the world from anything.
Talk of military alliances with the Kremlin to me also seem ill-advised on a number of levels- they consider themselves to be enemies of the United States for one, but perhaps Putin would have to be interested in talking to us after seeing how Obama grabbed ankle for the Iranians.
People might say Reagan sat down and attempted to deal with Gorby, but the Gipper never intended to give the Soviets what they truly wanted and needed- for 'Star Wars' to be cancelled. Reagan toyed with them and did do some business, but for the most part he knew he had them on the ropes and played that to American advantage.
Perhaps Trump sees a bit of himself in the Russian leader-- after all, Berlusconi is a Putin pal too, similar boisterous business tycoon type-
makes sense, these kind of guys often form mutual-admirations societies.
But if he ends up being the GOP nominee (I'm a Cruz guy myself), Donald Trump -for all his plusses and minuses- is sure to disappoint in this area -dealing with the Russians- right from the start. After all, I don't think they have much to offer us that we need- Russia doesn't make anything other than military equipment, really. Even their Vodka has been widely outclassed by a dozen other countries, and we've got plenty of natural gas ourselves.
I don't want to 'deal' with the Russians.
The trust factor is also a big one when dealing with the Kremlin- their record of transparency and good-faith fulfillment of promises is not what you might call 'admirable'. For lack of trust, some people are simply more difficult and time-consuming to do business with, and unfortunately Russians see all in zero-sum terms -anything good they get has to come at the other's expense.
The Western 'win-win' type of deal where synergies produce more bounty for all is a completely foreign -even unbelievable- concept to them... they're far too cynical for anything like that.
And it seems we may be dealing with Putin for decades, rather than years...
is Trump thinking long-term -which he always does- perhaps planning to do some building in Moscow?
Trump's 'good for them', cheering-on the Russians in Syria is really one of the oddest things I've ever heard him say- sure would welcome some other explanations... I don't get it, nor why such a position doesn't bother a significant cross-section of Trump supporters out there.