Washington---Whatever happened to that reset button Hillary Clinton gave her Russian counterpart in 2009 as a sign of renewed ties? No doubt gathering dust, while the West figures out how to handle Moscow now.
As the war in Ukraine goes from bad to worse, with more than 5,100 dead in nine months, the United States and its EU partners are pondering what to do about Russia and its President Vladimir Putin, who doesn't seem ready to blink yet in an escalating game of chicken.
"We face a dual challenge to overcome the immediate threat... along the borders, especially of Ukraine," veteran US diplomat Henry Kissinger, who steered the opening up of China, told lawmakers this week.
"But to do so in a manner that leaves open a context for Russia's long-term road in international relations, where it is needed to play an essential role."
And there's the rub.
Russia is blamed for the worst crisis with Europe and the West since the end of the Cold War, with some fearing it could explode into all-out war.
Yet in a chaotic world, Russia is still an important player with ties to many countries from the turbulent Middle East to the emerging economies of Latin America.
"Some people say this is a beginning of a new era, they call it 'post' post-Cold War," Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Miroslav Lajcak told a Washington think-tank on Friday.
- Into a new era -
Urgent discussions are needed on "how we see this new era. How we see Russia's place in this era, how we see our place in this era and most importantly what are we going to do to get there," Lajcak told the Atlantic Council.
So far, the West seems to be banking on sanctions, which have seen the ruble plunge and a massive capital flight, to change Moscow's calculations perhaps through popular discontent.
At "kitchen tables across Russia, citizens are once again asking why their government prioritizes foreign adventures over the well-being and quality of life of its own citizens," Victoria Nuland, the top US diplomat for Europe, said this week.
And in some areas in which it has a vested interest such as the Iran nuclear negotiations, Russia has remained steadfastly engaged with the West.
"Our basic problem is how do we stop the hot war on the ground in Ukraine, and not get into a more and more escalatory relationship with Putin," said Fiona Hill, director of the Brookings Center on the United States and Europe.
"It's a really tough challenge and I can't say that anybody's got all the answers now," she told AFP.
"But we need to start working on a frame right now where we figure out how we manage this relationship and how we put it on a different footing."
Waiting to see how the sanctions bite, or whether in a next step the West should begin to funnel arms to the Ukrainian military, would just be courting disaster.
"It's completely and utterly a game of chicken, and Putin's not going to back down," Hill said.
There are fledgling signs that a reflection on the shape of future ties is already under way.
A leaked EU document earlier this month suggested the annexation of Crimea should be put to one side to focus on how to talk to Moscow.
AFP
