I remember the Obama administration’s expulsion of the Russian diplomats very well. I also remember Trump saying (paraphrasing ) …. wouldn’t it be better for the whole world if the USA and Russia could get along……
Today’s Russia is not the Soviet Union of the Stalinist era.
Obama tells Russia’s Medvedev more flexibility after election
When Trump was running in 2016, Trump said he would try to work with the Russians where we had shared interest. The primary shared interest at that time was eliminating ISIS.
The Dems thought it was horrible for us to try to work with Russia. My guess is that obama, hillary, and Victoria Nuland preferred to keep tensions with Russia going. Personally, I preferred the idea of both the USA and Russia working together to eliminate ISIS.