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Russia–United States relations
Bilateral relations / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The United States and Russia maintain one of the most important, critical, and strategic foreign relations in the world. Both nations have shared interests in nuclear safety and security, nonproliferation, counterterrorism, and space exploration.[1] Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations became very tense after the United States imposed sanctions against Russia. Russia placed the United States on a list of "unfriendly countries",[2] along with South Korea, Taiwan, European Union members, NATO members (except Turkey), Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Micronesia, Japan and Ukraine.
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![]() Russia |
![]() United States |
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Diplomatic mission | |
Embassy of Russia, Washington, D.C. | Embassy of the United States, Moscow |
Envoy | |
Ambassador Anatoly Antonov | Ambassador Lynne M. Tracy |
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Putin_in_Switzerland_2021_10.jpg/640px-Putin_in_Switzerland_2021_10.jpg)
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the relationship was generally warm under the Russian President Boris Yeltsin (1991–99). In the early years of Yeltsin's presidency, the U.S. and Russia established a cooperative relationship and worked closely together to address global issues such as arms control, counterterrorism, and the conflict in Bosnia. During Yeltsin's second term, U.S.-Russia relations became more strained. The NATO intervention in Yugoslavia, in particular, the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo, was strongly opposed by Yeltsin.[3][4][5][6] Although the Soviet Union had been strongly opposed by the Titovian flavour of independence, Yeltsin saw it as an infringement on Russia's latter-day sphere of influence.[citation needed] Yeltsin also criticized NATO's expansion into Eastern Europe, which he saw as a threat to Russia's security.[7]
After Vladimir Putin became President of Russia in 2000, he initially sought to improve relations with the United States. The two countries cooperated on issues such as counterterrorism and arms control. Putin worked closely with U.S. President George W. Bush on the war in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks. Tensions began to rise as Putin became more authoritarian, and the U.S. pursued policies that Russia viewed as threatening to its security. The U.S. supported the pro-Western government in Georgia, which led to the Russo-Georgian War.
The U.S. missile defense system created another source of tension. Following Putin regaining control of the Russian government in 2012, relations between the two countries were significantly strained due to Russia's annexation of Crimea and the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Deterioration continued with the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, and over Russia's interference in the 2016 and 2020 U.S. elections.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, relations reached the lowest point since the end of the Cold War as international sanctions imposed since 2014 were significantly expanded by the U.S. and its allies, including several state-owned banks and oligarchs.[8]