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But in recent weeks, the relationship has begun to show signs of strain.

Historically, President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin have enjoyed a very special relationship ― at least if you’re viewing it through Trump’s perspective. As far back as 2013, Trump was envisioning a friendship with the Russian authoritarian leader,

The White House faces the question of whether its appeasement of Russia has failed to achieve the ceasefire it promised and instead emboldened the Kremlin on the battlefield.

An evidently unprepared Obama administration made no serious protest of Putin's seizure of Crimea and occupation of part of the industrial Donetsk in February 2014. The Biden administration, expecting Russia's tanks to quickly take Kyiv, ordered American diplomats evacuated in February 2022.

President Donald Trump has given Russian President Vladimir Putin a deadline of “two weeks.” Again. Asked on Wednesday whether he believes Putin really wants to end the war in Ukraine, Trump said he’s still mulling it over,

Trump called Putin 'crazy' over the weekend and said May 27 he's 'playing with fire' as he continues to bombard Ukraine during peace negotiations.

World leaders are pursuing their own versions of national interest on different historical and actual timelines than the transactional aspirations of American presidents.