Trump's fiasco of plans for China and Russia begins to be seen besides in the United States. The U.S. media is straight asking questions "why America failed to drive a wedge between Russia and China". This is actually a rhetorical question, due to the fact that the reasons for this political failure were previously known - for example in the position of NATO's east flank countries. It was these countries that pointed to Putin's deficiency of credibility and the real objectives of his political action.