Trump under pressure to be strong with Russia's Putin

By Roberta Rampton

US President Donald Trump is under pressure at home to take a tough line with the Kremlin ahead of Friday’s G20 summit in Germany.

During his presidential campaign, Republican Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "strong leader" with whom he would like to reset tense US-Russian relations.

But ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with Putin since become last year’s election, Trump is mired in allegations of Russian meddling in last year’s US election, which have alarmed both Republican and Democratic politicians.

Many, even those in his own party, are pushing to extend tough sanctions placed on Russia following its 2014 annexation of Crimea, a peninsula belonging to Ukraine.

Lawmakers, including Republican Senator Cory Gardner, are also concerned Russia has prolonged the civil war in Syria by backing its President Bashar al-Assad, a strongman whose forces have used chemical weapons against insurgents and civilians.

The chaos has fuelled instability in the region and a flood of migrants to Europe.

"President [Trump] needs to make it clear that the continued aggression by Russia around the globe is unacceptable, and that they will be held accountable," said Gardner, who was among six lawmakers invited by the White House last month to discuss foreign policy with Trump over dinner.

Witch hunt?

Meanwhile, the appointment of a special counsel who is investigating potential links between the Russian government and members of the Trump campaign has weakened the president’s ability to manoeuvre with Russia, foreign policy experts say.

The US intelligence community has concluded Russia sponsored hacking of Democratic Party groups last year to benefit Trump over his Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton.

Russia has denied those allegations while Trump has repeatedly dismissed the idea of any coordination between his campaign and Russia as a "witch hunt."

Still, just the optics of Trump meeting with Putin, a former KGB agent, are fraught with risk, foreign policy experts say.

"If [Trump] smiles, if he wraps his arm around Putin, if he says, 'I'm honoured to meet you, we're going to find a way forward' I think Congress is going to react extremely negatively to that," said Julie Smith, a former national security aide in the Obama administration.

Evolving US policy

Trump has signalled an interest in cooperating with Russia to defeat Islamic State in Syria and to reduce nuclear stockpiles.

The White House has been mum on what Trump would be willing to give Russia in exchange for that help.

But there has been speculation he could ratchet down sanctions, or even return two Russian diplomatic compounds in Maryland and Long Island. President Barack Obama seized those facilities and expelled 35 Russian diplomats just before he left office as punishment for the election hacks.

While some administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also support engagement, others, such as Vice President Mike Pence and US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, have taken a hawkish line on Russia.

The lack of a unified strategy has left US allies anxious. And it has lowered expectations for American leadership to help resolve crises in Syria and Ukraine, where Russian cooperation would be critical.

Trump's administration is still reviewing its Russia policy, a process that may not be wrapped up for a couple of months, a US official said.

Third try at a reset

Trump is just the latest president to grapple with the complicated US-Russia dynamic.

George W Bush and Obama sought to improve the US relationship with Russia early in their administrations only to see relations deteriorate later.

Among the concerns for this president is Trump’s apparent lack of interest in policy details and his tendency to wing it with foreign leaders.

McMaster told reporters that Trump has "no specific agenda" for his meeting with Putin and that topics would consist of "whatever the president wants to talk about."

Michael McFaul, who was US ambassador to Russia under Obama, said he feared Trump might be headed to the meeting without clear objectives.

“I hope that he would think about first: what is our objective in Ukraine? What is our objective in Syria? And secondarily, how do I go about achieving that in my meeting with Putin?" McFaul said.