Normalizing Relations With a Goaded Russia

"What we shouldn't do now is to inflame the situation by loud saber-rattling and shrill war cries."
"Whoever believes that symbolic tank parades on the alliance's eastern border will bring more security is mistaken. We are well-advised not to create pretexts to renew an old confrontation."
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier

"For this [normalization of relations between Canada and Russia] there should be some specific steps, which should be made by both sides."
"The [Canadian] prime minister himself said when we were at G20 in Antalya that he thinks how we should re-establish the relations in full. We welcome this ... and will get down to this task, to work together."
"If Canada wants to join [U.S. missile defence program] -- join it! What else can I say? We could not dictate to you what to do. Do what you want. And we will do what we think is necessary to provide our security."
Russian President Vladimir V. Putin

"I pointed out that although Canada has shifted its approach on a broad range of multilateral and international issues, we remain committed to the fact that Russia's interference in Ukraine must cease."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 

© AFP 2016/ JANEK SKARZYNSKI 

Stop Goading Russia, Steinmeier Urges After NATO Military Exercise (Sputnik)

From each principal's version of the collegial discussion that took place between the two leaders -- Russia's president/prime minister/president [for life] and Canada's new Liberal prime minister who is anxious to the point of turning himself into a living pretzel to convince the world that Canada's latest love affair with the Liberal government returns the country to normalcy -- there is an obvious disparity in the intelligence imparted and positions agreed upon.

Russia's plunge into the comfortable familiarity of throwing its weight around Europe and persuasively informing its neighbours that Russia too is "back" into its USSR-collective mode, prepared to once again absorb its former satellites has them quavering and NATO reminding its members of their obligations to one and all, inclusive of those former satellites now NATO members. Germany is ever-sensitive to the volatile nature of Russia-Europe relations.

Canada's new government is on track to emulate U.S. President Barack Obama's lingering commitment to "normalize" relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the world of Islam, and with recalcitrant, authoritarian Russia, a juggling act that threatens to fall in upon itself from time to time reflecting the Obama administration's "hands-off" attitude to worrisome world affairs. The goal has eluded the United States, the world's power house, but this Canadian administration is giving it a go.

Canada "is back!" exulted Trudeau junior, though this is not the world his father knew, nor is Canada the country he was familiar with. The son-and-heir aspires to moving Canada's importance in world affairs up a notch, starting with ingratiating itself with the United Nations' peace-keeping efforts, expressing yet another monumental failure. Justin Trudeau hardly knows where to look first to cast his wide, vacuous smile of amity.

His overture to Russia will be fractured if he agrees to NATO's invitation to become one of the four nations agreeing to spearhead a new mega NATO force on Russia's border, committing a one- thousand-member battalion of Canadian troops to do its part, in Greece. The United States, Britain and Germany round out the fabulous four, and Mr. Trudeau would like to be in that illustrious company, elevating Canada under his guidance to an enviable position of trust and responsibility.

Troops train as part of multinational exercise Anakonda 2016 at the training ground Nowa Deba, southeast Poland, on Sunday. DAREK DELMANOWICZ / EPA

One that will, of necessity, further estrange it from Russia, despite the ramblings of "normalizing" relations. The large-scale ten-day military training exercise taking place in Poland with over twenty NATO and partner countries taking part, was not viewed with great favour by Russia, which in response saw President Putin order checks on his armed forces combat readiness. And despite Germany's cautious warning, it was part of that military exercise of NATO's.

One might venture the opinion that the previous Conservative government of Stephen Harper was true to its moral principles in downgrading its relations with Russia in reflection of Moscow's annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean in 2014. And that Moscow remains intransigent over its support of ethnic Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine is ample proof that its entitlement is set in stone leading Mr. Harper to invite Mr. Putin to "get out" of Ukraine at a previous G20 summit.

The principled Mr. Harper was not particularly to Mr. Putin's liking. The malleable, suggestible Mr. Trudeau certainly demonstrates promise.

Polish Army soldiers hold flags of some of the countries participating in the Anaconda-16 military exercise, during the opening ceremony, in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, June 6, 2016. Poland and some NATO members are launching their biggest ever exercise, involving some 31,000 troops, as central and eastern European nations are seeking strong security guarantees among concerns about Russia's assertiveness and actions. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)