THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

In the last century a fairly large number of Americans chose to work on behalf of the late Soviet Union. Since the creation of the Russian Federation and its capture by an ex-KGB man, there is no reason to think that the efforts of that country to spy on and for that country to affect the US policy has changed to any degree. But now it appears that Putin and his FSB & GRU are about to achieve their ultimate success, installing one of their most unlikely agents as President of the US.

The two statements appeared to be business as usual — each side representing enemy No. 1 for the other, as they have since World War II ended and the Cold War began.

By Friday that mood had been abruptly cast aside, however. President Vladimir V. Putin announced that Russia would do nothing in response to the new American measures, awaiting the next administration, prompting President-elect Donald J. Trump to call him “very smart” in a Twitter post.

Russian-American relations are passing through one of their most confusing moments in modern history amid the transition from one presidential administration to the next, with the sitting president calling Russia a national security threat and the incoming one praising Mr. Putin.

With Mr. Trump making admiring remarks about Mr. Putin, without the support of Congress, many American voters, accustomed for generations to be suspicious about Russia, are understandably confused and uneasy. Russia was an enemy on Friday morning, and a friend by the afternoon.

“We are in a whiplash moment right now, and I think it is unprecedented in several respects,” said Cliff Kupchan, the chairman of the Eurasia Group, a political risk assessment firm in Washington, and a former State Department official from the Clinton administration. “The most important one is that the baton is about to be passed from an administration with a very hard line on Russia to one that is very much more sympathetic.”

No clear agreements or even offers are on the table yet, however, bringing uncertainty. “Russia’s relations with the U.S. are currently up in the air — both sides have no clear strategy about how to move them forward,” said Aleksandr Morozov, an independent Russian political analyst.

The uncertainty will continue for a while until Putin is comfortable with what he can make is Little Orange Puppy do. And given the 30 year Republican drift away from American principles and ideals it may shock many of us what he can get away with.