It's one of the strange things in today's geopolitical landscape that Trump's desire to build closer relations with Russia makes it more difficult to do the same thing for the European mainstream -- who is aligned ideologically with American critics of Trump.
Those who are going to applaud a Trump-Putin rapprochement in Europe are on the populist right or left, while the center can't align with Trump on anything, which includes Trump's Russia policy.
The European center will be pushed towards keeping the current distance towards Russia by Trump's Russia policy - even those among centrists who are in favour of rapprochement with Russia.
What would be really interesting is what happens if Trump seriously pushes for major moves on Ukraine or a return of Russia to the G7. The European center might hold the line or break apart.
