Russia has long coveted its warm-water port on the Mediterranean at Tartus, Syria, as a base of influence in the Middle East and beyond.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated President Donald Trump on his inauguration and declared Russia is ready to talk to the United States to find global peace.
Russian media sources pushed back on the damage assessment.
Trump’s policy towards the Panama Canal, Greenland and Canada is in fact a message to China that its aggressive expansionism will not be quietly observed by the new American administration.