Trump is right
President Trump 's opponents naturally have criticized  him  over a lengthy phone call  he  had Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the call may represent the beginning of new U.S.-Russia dialogue that could lead to an important breakthrough in relations.
According to the White House  the two leaders spoke for over an hour and discussed Syria  fighting terrorism in the Middle East and Central Asia  Ukraine  the Iran nuclear deal  and North Korea.  President Trump  said that  he  and Putin spoke "very strongly about bringing peace to Syria" and "very strongly about North Korea."
Here are a few thoughts about  the Trump-Putin phone call .
First   President Trump  is right that the United States needs to find a way to live with and cooperate with Russia. This doesn't mean the U.S. has to accept Russia's belligerent and destabilizing actions. But Americans need to understand that our ability to change Russian behavior is very limited.
Dialogue like  the Trump-Putin phone call  could improve relations and help both sides find areas of potential cooperation. Such dialogue also is certain to be more productive than the Obama administration's aimless policy of sanctioning Russia and issuing ultimatums that it failed to enforce.
Second  while  the Trump-Putin phone call  may be a positive development  it was part of a broader effort by Putin to take the initiative in the Middle East  especially in devising a post-ISIS strategy for Syria that favors Russia's ally  Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Obviously  a Russian-led peace process that includes Iran and excludes the United States is not in U.S. interests or in the interests of America's friends and allies in the Middle East.  President Trump  is working to counter Putin's effort by reasserting American leadership in the Middle East and likely will use  his  interactions with the Russian president to make this clear.
Third   President Trump 's foreign policy priority appears to be ending North Koreaâs nuclear weapons program.  He  may be willing to make a deal with Moscow to win its support for achieving that goal.
 President Trump  probably is looking for a way to ensure that Russia does not throw North Korea a lifeline at the same that China is beginning to enforce tough United Nations sanctions. This could mean the U.S. is considering some kind of deal with Russia to address the situation in Ukraine  possibly by deploying U.N. peacekeepers.
The mainstream media and the left will engage in histrionics over the call and use it to continue their conspiracy narrative of  President Trump  collaborating with and being too cozy with Russia. But the communications between the two presidents marks the return of a decisive and principled American president who understands that the United States and Russia must find a way to live together and cooperate.
 [TGT]  's opponents naturally have criticized   [TGT]   over a lengthy phone call   [TGT]   had Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the call may represent the beginning of new U.S.-Russia dialogue that could lead to an important breakthrough in relations.
According to the White House  the two leaders spoke for over an hour and discussed Syria  fighting terrorism in the Middle East and Central Asia  Ukraine  the Iran nuclear deal  and North Korea.   [TGT] said that   [TGT]   and Putin spoke "very strongly about bringing peace to Syria" and "very strongly about North Korea."
Here are a few thoughts about  the Trump-Putin phone call .
First    [TGT] is right that the United States needs to find a way to live with and cooperate with Russia. This doesn't mean the U.S. has to accept Russia's belligerent and destabilizing actions. But Americans need to understand that our ability to change Russian behavior is very limited.
Dialogue like  the Trump-Putin phone call  could improve relations and help both sides find areas of potential cooperation. Such dialogue also is certain to be more productive than the Obama administration's aimless policy of sanctioning Russia and issuing ultimatums that it failed to enforce.
Second  while   [TGT] may be a positive development   [TGT]  was part of a broader effort by Putin to take the initiative in the Middle East  especially in devising a post-ISIS strategy for Syria that favors Russia's ally  Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Obviously  a Russian-led peace process that includes Iran and excludes the United States is not in U.S. interests or in the interests of America's friends and allies in the Middle East.   [TGT] is working to counter Putin's effort by reasserting American leadership in the Middle East and likely will use   [TGT]   interactions with the Russian president to make this clear.
Third   President Trump 's foreign policy priority appears to be ending North Koreaâs nuclear weapons program.   [TGT]   may be willing to make a deal with Moscow to win its support for achieving that goal.
  [TGT] probably is looking for a way to ensure that Russia does not throw North Korea a lifeline at the same that China is beginning to enforce tough United Nations sanctions. This could mean the U.S. is considering some kind of deal with Russia to address the situation in Ukraine  possibly by deploying U.N. peacekeepers.
The mainstream media and the left will engage in histrionics over the call and use it to continue their conspiracy narrative of   [TGT] collaborating with and being too cozy with Russia. But the communications between the two presidents marks the return of a decisive and principled American president who understands that the United States and Russia must find a way to live together and cooperate.