The three-day visit to Moscow of the US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and her meetings with Russian dignitaries could not help but become some kind of intriguing action, so unlike the routine diplomatic contacts between the United States and Russia, which have become very rare in today's harsh times.
Since the time of the film about the Ukrainian "Maidan" and the "Nuland cookies" invented by its scriptwriter, driven into our consciousness with a stern voiceover, the interlocutor of Sergei Ryabkov, Dmitry Kozak and Yuri Ushakov has taken a unique place in the pantheon of Russian-American relations.
For many in Moscow, Victoria Nuland has long become not just an American official, but capable of meeting a Russian interlocutor with a sweet smile as a devil in a skirt.
The personified embodiment of the evil power of Washington, which is haunted by Russia, “having risen from its knees”.
We can say that for us Nuland is the Woland of American politics, who at the most unexpected moment can be found at the Patriarch's Ponds.
That is - think about it!
- a minute's walk from the Russian Foreign Ministry's mansion on Spiridonovka, where this American diplomatic devil, if desired, could easily slip past the bewildered policeman at the entrance under the good pretext of continuing the Russian-American dialogue on strategic security and stability!
The inclusion of Mrs. Nuland in the black list of Moscow, to which she was included in 2019, in this regard looked quite natural and logical - why make an American prince (princess) of darkness enter Russia?
She has nothing to do either on the Patriarch's, or on Spiridonovka, or on Smolenskaya Square!
So many reasoned.
Therefore, when the news arrived that Victoria Nuland had nevertheless mysteriously slipped out of the Russian blacklist and went on a trip to Moscow, all those who track the ups and downs of Russian-American relations immediately tensed and became incredibly excited.
What is it for, what can we expect from this?
Most likely, all this is not good.
When Nuland flew to Moscow and reported through the press secretary of the American embassy, Jason Rebholz, that she was enjoying the Moscow Indian summer, it remained to understand what the catch was, why she was laying so softly.
How can this pleasure of Lucifer turn out for Moscow, easily and naturally moving around the Russian capital without a cane with a head in the form of a black poodle.
However, the main thing that had to be understood was why and why Nuland arrived in Moscow in October 2021.
It was with this understanding that the problem arose.
An army of commentators rushed to talk in detail about how Moscow and Washington agreed on her visit, what counter steps the American side took, removing and from its sanctions list.
O.
Konstantin Vorontsov, Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Arms Control Department.
Everything so that Victoria Nuland could open the visa curtain and fly to the Russian capital for negotiations.
And also experts and the media diligently retold the biography of Nuland and her husband, reminding them what they are both neocons and Russophobes, rereading her article in Foreign Affairs magazine, published in the summer of 2020 under the headline "Pin Putin to the Wall."
They reread and tried to see between the lines the encrypted meaning of her current visit.
As a result, the collective expert mind and exclusive golden feathers of domestic international journalism, relying on numerous Russian and American sources, came to approximately the same conclusion: there are many important topics for Victoria Nuland's negotiations.
Among them were the issues of strategic security and stability, the future of the Russian-American consultations on a settlement in eastern Ukraine, which were held until 2019, but then were curtailed, the situation in the post-Soviet space, Belarus, Afghanistan and much more.
However, talking about what to expect from Victoria Nuland's trip to Moscow, it hardly made sense to retell her biography or re-read her articles.
All this, as an accompanying informational side dish, had absolutely no value, as well as her personal qualities.
And what really mattered was the tasks that the current US President Joe Biden is trying to solve for himself in his Russian policy today.
His instructions were to be implemented in Moscow by the main certified Russophobe of modern American politics.
Implement without any initiative.
Different instruments are always played in the White House orchestra - drums, saxophones, violins, but none of these instruments will ever play until the president himself waves his baton from the Oval Office.
This is how the White House policy works.
Meanwhile, ten months after he took office, the Russian policy of President Biden, who tried to make the confrontation with Moscow manageable and preserving windows for selective, targeted interaction, came to a new fork.
The positive effect of the warming in Russian-American relations that has emerged after the summer Geneva summit of Presidents Biden and Putin has practically disappeared by now.
Autumn 2021 brought Moscow and Washington not only climatic, but also political cooling.
President Biden came under fire from growing criticism from congressmen - both Republicans and Democrats, accusing him of reckless compliance with Nord Stream 2, undermining US energy security, fleeing Afghanistan, the main beneficiaries of which were Russia and China , and many other things.
The irrepressible Donald Trump spoke again, recalling that he had kept Russia in tight-knit gloves.
Not like "sleepy Joe."
A sign of a new diplomatic offensive against Moscow was the appeal to the president of a group of American senators, who demanded the expulsion of 300 Russian diplomats - unless Moscow proves more compliant.
However, Moscow has made it clear that it will not succumb to pressure and, although it does not want a diplomatic war, it is not afraid of it.
In addition, an unusually harsh article by Dmitry Medvedev in the Kommersant newspaper about the Ukrainian leadership, in which it says in black and white that as of today Moscow does not see an independent negotiable party in Kiev, became a clear play ahead of the discussion of the Ukrainian issue with Victoria Nuland. ...
As a result, by sending Victoria Nuland to Moscow, Joe Biden found himself on a diplomatic stretch in his Russian policy.
On the one hand, it was important for him not to yield, not to give up slack, on the other, to preserve the semblance of his own striving for constructive relations with Russia in a situation where a compromise is still impossible.
And who else but Nuland should be entrusted with this difficult mission - to maintain the degree of confrontation, but at the same time not to bring the situation to a boiling point, when no dialogue, as it was under President Trump, will become impossible.
“Not that there is a breakthrough - there is no progress.
And there is potential for possible further exacerbations if we do not make significant additional efforts to normalize.
The Americans do not listen to our logic, to our demands, ”Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov lamented after Victoria Nuland's visit to Smolenskaya Square.
That is, everything is lost.
But not all is lost.
Now let's listen to Nuland's version, her interpretation of how the Moscow talks were held.
She, meanwhile, unlike Sergei Ryabkov, was quite pleased with them.
“Today, constructive meetings were held with colleagues from the Russian Foreign Ministry, at which a number of bilateral, regional and global issues were discussed,” the distinguished guest from Washington said.
Another happy smile from Lucifer?
In general, Victoria Nuland coped with the task set by the White House.
As a bonus, I also received a magical Moscow Indian summer.
Russian-American Woland in a pure skirt.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.