It's been over five years since the United States and Russia vowed to "reset" their relationship. In that time, the two countries have had to grapple with disagreements over Syria, Iran and Libya, as well as Russia's welcome to U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden and the U.S. condemnation of a Russian-supported referendum in Crimea.
On Monday, the United States imposed sanctions on some of the highest ranking officials in the Russian government. Let's just say it: The reset is dead.
One interesting way to think of it is to look back over the years in photographs. Body language is an important way to understand what someone is thinking: So important that apparently the U.S. government has spent $300,000 studying the postures, hand signals, and facial movements of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders. President Obama himself has observed that Putin had a “slouch" and looked like "that bored schoolboy in the back of the classroom” -- far from when President George W. Bush "looked the man in the eye" in 2001 and "was able to get a sense of his soul."
So how did that U.S. and Russian body language change over the years? See for yourself:
In 2009, the reset is announced. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presents Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with a red button that is supposed to say 'reset' in Russian. It actually says 'overcharge.'
Later that year, President Obama meets Vladimir Putin, then Russian prime minister, for the first time.
In 2010, Russian Preisdent Dimitry Medvedev, seen as a potential reformer, visits Washington. Medvedev later described the reset as a 'win-win' situation.
In 2011 Vice President Biden visits Putin in Moscow, where they talk about Russia's efforts to join the World Trade Organization.
Putin, now president of Russia again, meets Obama in Mexico in 2012. Despite concern about Russia's handling of domestic protests and the controversial death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, relations are relatively amicable. Russia's membership of the WTO is accepted.
By 2013, however, things are getting a lot more strained, thanks to Edward Snowden and Russia's support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. One widely shared photograph from the G-8 meeting in Belfast is said to capture the mood.
In 2014, the fall of Viktor Yanukovych's pro-Russia government in Ukraine creates a crisis. Here President Obama talks on the phone with Putin after reports that Russian troops have entered the Russian province of Crimea.
President Obama talking on the phone in the Oval Office with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation in Ukraine, 01 March 2014. The United States has condemned Russia’s military intervention into Ukrainian territory and called on Russia to withdraw its forces back to bases in Crimea. The strongly worded statement came from the White House following a telephone call between Obama and Putin lasting 90 minutes. EPA/PETE SOUZA / THE WHITE HOUSE /
Later, Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov in London in the hope of finding common ground on Syria. After the meeting, Lavrov told reporters they had 'no common views.'
Secretary of State John F. Kerry (R) and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pose for a photograph before their meeting at Winfield House, the home of the U.S. ambassador in London March 14, 2014. The United States and Russia will find it formidably difficult to make progress on Ukraine at talks in London today, British Foreign Minister William Hague said on Friday. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/pool
Perhaps the most damning of them all: Samantha Power, the U.N. ambassador confronts her Russian counterpart, Vitaly Churkin, after Russia blocked a U.N. Security Council resolution on Crimea's referendum.
Samantha Power (R), the American ambassador to the United Nations, talks to Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, before a vote regarding the Ukrainian crisis is taken at the U.N. Security Council in New York March 15, 2014. Russia on Saturday vetoed a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that declares a planned referendum on the status of Ukraine's Crimea region "can have no validity" and urges nations and international organizations not to recognize it. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
