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Sergey Ryabkov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister. Credit: Russian Foreign Ministry

Of all of the raft of comments and actions by Donald Trump in the first couple of days of his second term in office, the strategically decisive issues will be what he does on Russia, China, and the BRICS more broadly. From the Russian side, there are a number of significant responses.

Sergey Ryabkov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, gave a speech on Jan. 22 at the Institute of U.S. and Canadian Studies, a think tank of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in which he stated: “I think the next period will be characterized by not just a substantial number of challenges, but also the increased pace of changes and a high level of uncertainty, including in broader international relations and specifically on the platform of our dialogue with Washington.… The role of this Institute as a major think tank that gives the most detailed analysis of the unfriendly state that is central to us increases significantly.”

Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote on his Telegram channel: “Obviously, the main commentary on the rather amusing U.S. presidential inauguration was the dialogue between the heads of Russia and China, held after yesterday’s event. It is undeniable proof of the multipolarity of the modern world and the strategic partnership of our countries.” He added, in TASS’s paraphrase, that everyone understands that what the modern world needs most is not a “golden age of America,” as Trump said, but “the growth and prosperity of humanity.” “Together we will make the world a better place!” he concluded, adding the Chinese translation of the phrase.

Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Duma Committee on International Affairs, stated during a State Duma plenary session shortly after Trump’s inaugural speech: “In recent years, relations between the two largest nuclear powers, Russia and the U.S., have nearly sunk to zero, but today we see potential grounds for the situation to be revised.… We are ready for a reset,” adding that re-launching the “Duma-Congress” format was one option. “We understand that there is no magic switch that would allow us to reset the global situation.”

Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, was asked a question about the future of U.S.-Russian relations after Putin’s Jan. 20 meeting with permanent members of Russia’s Security Council, which was held a few hours before Trump’s inauguration: “Fortune telling is an unrewarding task. We are open to contacts. In answering relevant questions, you have repeatedly confirmed this, drawing attention to the fact that it is necessary to have serious proposals from those of our colleagues who once froze relations with Russia.”