An operation aimed at easing pressure on Putin's government by installing a friendly face in the White House has led to a tightening of sanctions against Russia and a dangerous increase in internal political pressure on the Russian president.
As for Trump, the alleged collusion of his campaign with Russia could have helped his electoral victory, but runs the risk of destroying his presidency. It would be a strange irony if the closeness between Putin's and Trump's teams finally ended up with the political careers of both presidents.
Of course, the Russian Government and Trump's uncompromising defenders still deny that such collusion has occurred. But US intelligence is sure that Russia was behind the leak of Democratic Party emails.
It seems highly probable that hacking has influenced the outcome of a narrow election.
I was in Philadelphia on the eve of the Democratic convention in July 2016 when the first emails were leaked. The revelation that Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the co-chair of the Democratic National Committee, had outraged Bernie Sanders's campaign in private, forced his resignation and ensured that the convention began in a chaotic way.
Sanders' supporters were convinced that his candidate had been robbed of the election. And Sanders voters who supported the Republicans were crucial to Trump's victory in the vital states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Now we also know that Russian operators used Facebook and Twitter to spread messages against Clinton.
During his campaign, Trump always sympathized with the Kremlin. It is not yet known whether his sympathy was motivated by ideology, some investment or some embarrassing secret.
But the connection with Russia unleashed a series of events that could ultimately shatter his presidency. Alarmed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into his Russian contacts, the US president dismissed James Comey, the FBI's chief at that time.
The reaction against Comey's dismissal led to the appointment of Robert Mueller, a former FBI chief, as special prosecutor to examine the connection between Trump and Russia. And the relentless progress of Mueller's investigation is likely to trigger arrests and resignations.
That, in turn, could lead to the removal of Trump and the destruction of his presidency.
As for Putin, the moment it became clear that his bet might be counterproductive was when Trump was forced to fire General Michael Flynn, his first national security adviser, for not revealing contacts with the Russian government. From that point on, relaxing sanctions against Russia became politically impossible for Trump.
On the contrary, the reaction against Russian interference in US elections has led to intensified sanctions, and Congress' mistrust ensures that Trump will not be able to lift these measures unilaterally. In fact, it seems that the Republican Congress has hardened measures against Russia rather than hardening its stance against Trump.
The sanctions, which were added during the summer, are specifically targeted at Russian mining and oil industries. In response, Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, accused the United States. UU. of "a declaration of economic war against Russia".
For now, far from improving with Trump, the relations between EE. UU. and Russia are as bitter as ever since the heyday of the Cold War.
Realizing that the Trump Government could not lift the sanctions, the Kremlin resorted to a massive expulsion of US diplomats in response to an earlier expulsion of the Russians by the Obama administration.
The perspective that EE. UU. can supply weapons to Ukraine has become much more real. And Russia is about to embark on some major military exercises in Eastern Europe, which will increase American fears.
The irony for Putin is that if he had simply let events take their course, sanctions on Russia might have been alleviated during the normal course of events, even with Hillary Clinton in the White House.
In fact, Clinton had already tried a "readjustment" with Russia as Secretary of State and could have been prepared to try another. Many in Europe were also
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