Among the most infuriating things about the Trump–Putin bromance is that it’s a one-way street. While the American president is smitten, the Russian dictator never loses sight of his objective to undermine the United States and sow discord in our body politic.
Ten days ago, as Trump emissaries were having cordial meetings with and trying to browbeat into surrendering on Putin’s terms, Putin decided that it was the perfect time for his longtime foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, to visit — you know, the enemy against whom Trump launched a war (over its nuclear program and long history of anti-American aggression) and is trying to reduce to a pariah. As you’d expect, it was a love-in: Lavrov reaffirmed the Kremlin’s support for Tehran, enjoyed photo ops with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and asserted that “Iran’s struggle against the aggression unleashed on it is a just cause.” As he clarified, he was referring to what he described as “unprovoked U.S.-Israeli aggression against Iran.”
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