According to the expert, Trump can even withdraw anti-Russian sanctions, although it remains unclear what the new administration will want to receive in return.
"There is always certain optimism associated with a new administration. I assume that the first meeting goes well and the two will get along on a personal level, but I don't think that this will solve the fundamental issues. The question is: if Trump lifts the sanctions, what he actually can do with a stroke of the pen and without any approval of the Congress, what will he ask in return? And if this is a part of a larger deal, what will Vladimir Putin be ready to offer?" Cooley said.
"We know nothing about that. We can only speculate. Donald Trump and his National Security Advisor Michael Flynn have repeatedly talked about the cooperation with the Russian Federation in the fight against Daesh and Islamist terrorism, but what this means in practice is very difficult to say," the expert added.
Cooley also recalled Trump's previous statements about the importance of new agreements with Russia and his criticism of NATO. The expert mentioned that Moscow welcomed Trump's election with a great deal of optimism, hoping that the new US President will change the vector of international relations.
At the same time, the expert noted that such steps require time and effort, thus one shouldn't count with a rapid change of political course in Washington.
"We need to understand that even if he wants to do it, there are many institutional obstacles. Such things can't be done with just one click of fingers," Cooley stated.
According to Trenin, Trump's team consists of people who are used to achieving results from the position of strength — be it a business, or a military sphere.
"So it will be an interesting team, which on the one hand won't be easy to work with, but on the other hand — easier than before. Because these people, in my opinion, proceed from the relatively simple concepts of interest — be it a business interest, or the national one," Trenin said.
On Friday, Donald Trump officially took office as US president. He was sworn in on Capitol Hill as the forty-fifth president of the United States.
Republican candidate Trump won the 2016 US election in November with a total of 304 Electoral College votes against 227 electoral votes secured by his rival, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
