Is Putin’s Russia Ready for Trump’s America?

Last Wednesday morning, members of the Russian parliament broke into spontaneous applause. “Colleagues three minutes ago, Hillary Clinton admitted her defeat in U.S. Presidential elections, and just this second Trump began his speech as President-elect,” a Duma deputy named Vyacheslav Nikonov announced. The hall was filled with a long and sustained cheer. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the nationalist buffoon who is a particularly vulgar yet ultimately feckless Russian version of Trump, threw a party with champagne in his Duma office. Not long after, Vladimir Putin sent Trump a telegram of congratulations, saying that he welcomed a “constructive dialogue” with the new U.S. President, based on “principles of equality, mutual respect, and genuine consideration.”