As Russian President Vladimir Putin recently stated, the bilateral relations between Russia and the United States have “deteriorated to what is the lowest point in recent years.” Taking a quick look at the last couple of years, seven months after former U.S. president Donald Trump’s inauguration, Washington enacted new sanctions against Russia, as well as Iran and North Korea. It was followed by further sanctions in the same year. Furthermore, Russia was identified as an adversary in the National Security Strategy document released by the U.S. in December 2017. A few months later, Russia was labeled as a strategic competitor of the United States in its National Defense Strategy. Overall, during the period of the Trump administration…