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

"comrades, it seems like our plan to build a new society has failed. we are not sure what we have done wrong. we have seized every mcdonalds in the hemisphere, and yet we still have not achieved communism. let us retreat back to our plan and reanalyze it. here it is.

1. unionize wage labourers for higher wages. 
2. profit.
3. ???????
4. communism.

now, where is our error, comrades? what have we done wrong? i must admit that i don't see it."

i hear that they used to call donald trump the coyote, on account of his quick wit.

Don "Coyote" Trump.

it will stick once he announces his hitherto unknown green energy policy.