but, as usual, lavrov is right and putin is wrong. putin has a pattern of naively accepting contrived gestures from america, and then getting burned by them. he is not very smart at all.

thankfully for the russians, there appear to be senior people that can see through this. but, i have little doubt that putin thinks, in his mind, that he finally has the peace with america he's always sought, and has been patiently waiting for through rebuke after rebuke.

this is, of course, delusional. trump has used putin as an example in his arguments for authoritarian or corporatist government, and you should take his election as another step forward in america's long move towards open fascist corporatism. but, he's not pro-russian in any meaningful way. nor would it matter if he was, as he's not going to have the influence or leverage to reverse the long war even if he wanted to.

the article is right, but only narrowly: there's no change of policy here. what the white house is broadcasting is that there is not going to be one, either. and, putin - as always - would rather imagine a future that will never exist than accept the evidence in front of him. it's gone right over his head...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/30/donald-trump-russia-obama-sanctions