After years of rising U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine, Syria, cyber attacks and nuclear arms control, Donald Trump's election as U.S. president may offer a narrow window to repair relations as he and Russian President Vladimir Putin size up each other.
But Trump's ascent to the White House carries the risk of dangerous miscalculation if the U.S. president-elect and Putin, two willful personalities and self-styled strong leaders who have exchanged occasional compliments, decide they have misjudged one another, according to Russia experts and others.
U.S. officials and private analysts predict that Putin, who has reasserted Moscow's military and political muscle from eastern Europe to the Middle East, will avoid openly provoking Trump before he takes office.