US-Russia ties strained during Putin political campaign - Reuters Canada

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Verbal sparring between the United States and Russia has taken on an ugly tone lately, and Vladimir Putin's determination to reclaim the Kremlin in a presidential election on Sunday does not augur well for a fresh start with Washington.

In one recent U.S.-Russian spat, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called "despicable" the Russian veto of a U.N. resolution backing an Arab League plan for transition of power in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad's forces have brutally attacked demonstrators.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded that the Western criticism of the veto verged on "hysteria."

A website based in Russia, Pravda.ru, proclaimed this week, "Despicable is Hillary Clinton," and referred to the secretary of state as "butch, a trucker-type."

Serious strains in U.S.-Russian ties date to the start of political turmoil in Russia last year, and Russia watchers say it is unclear whether Sunday's presidential election, which Putin is expected to win, and its aftermath, will ease them.

The warming trend under President Barack Obama's "reset" policy with Moscow cooled markedly in December after Clinton asserted that Russian parliamentary elections were neither fair nor free, drawing accusations from Putin that she had instigated street protests in Russia.

If a similar cloud develops over the results of Russia's presidential election, with allegations of ballot-stuffing to get Putin back in the Kremlin, the former KGB spy could remain under pressure domestically, especially if street protests against him continue.

That could prompt a U.S. reassessment of ties, said Leon Aron, the director of Russian studies at the American Enterprise Institute think tank in Washington.   Continued...