 And it looks like Russian officials are stepping lightly because they don't want to be seen as overly embracing Trump because he is unpredictable and because of the baggage from the 2016 U.S. presidential election when Russia, rightly or wrongly, was seen as trying to tip the scales in Trump's favor. The feeling here, anyway, was that U.S.-Russian relations became a political football in domestic American politics. And that continues today.