During the Trump era, this country had two wildly different approaches to Russia. While Trump openly fawned over Putin and did his best to legitimize Russia’s behavior, the State Department continued to operate as if nothing had changed in the White House. As a result, American sanctions and ongoing aid to Ukraine are still in place. Russia did not receive any concrete benefits from Trump’s outrageous behavior.
The dissonance will end the day Biden takes office. Will he seek to retaliate for Russia’s intervention in our elections? Probably not. Putin may have the ethics and skills of an organized crime boss, but he isn’t the devil, and there are times when you have to do business with him. Biden is a grown man, and he will understand that.