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arashitranslationThanks a lot to Winkychan (http://winkychan.livejournal.com/46672.html) for subbing the episode into the video. Please read her post for details and credits. RAW Provider: K-A-N奈奈.
I would also like to thank HodSho-san (Twitter @Hodosakurai) on advising the translation of the opening sentence.
Murao-san’s comment might have suggested a correlation between Trump administration’s motivation to improve relationship with Russia and US’ involvement and change of policy on Syrian Civil War. Murao-san’s wording was subtle. Winkychan (Tumblr @winkychan, Twitter @winkysakurai) and I have discussed on the translation and we came up with a literal one, while we have researched what media portrayed this. Below are some selected articles / coverage for your further interest.
From the articles below, several points may be concluded:
1. Trump administration wants to improve relationship with Russia.
2. Trump administration wants to fight against IS.
3. Western media seem to focus on point 2 and interpret Trump’s intended cooperation with Russia on Syria Civil War as a strategy to fight against IS. Western media also seem to indicate that Trump is not into the Assad government.
4. Japan media, on the other hand, seem bit more active in linking Trump’s intended cooperation with Russia on Syria Civil War with his intention to improve relationship with Putin administration.
We hope that these readings would supplement Murao-san’s comment and our interpretation to Murao-san’s comment. Please note that our research is not an academic one, it does not cover all the available materials, the selection and analysis of materials may be subject to various biases. We welcome further discussion on this issue. Thanks.
Selected readings on chronicle order:
16.11.11 WSJ Japan (https://goo.gl/BPo3pM): It hints the correlation between that Trump wants to improve relationship with Russia and that change of Russian policy including Syria.
16.11.12 Independent (https://goo.gl/ic1fja): “Mr Trump has stated that while he “did not like [Mr Assad] at all”, shoring up his regime is the best way to stem the extremism that has flourished in the chaos of the civil war and threatens the US. He has also been emphatic about mending ties with Russia, Syria’s long-standing ally and military backer in the conflict. “Russia is now totally aligned with Syria, and now you have Iran, which is becoming powerful, because of us, is aligned with Syria… Now we’re backing rebels against Syria, and we have no idea who those people are,” he told the Journal, referring to the hardline Sunni Islamist elements present in rebel ranks. If the US attacks Mr Assad, “We end up fighting Russia,” he added.”
16.12.06 Bloomberg (https://goo.gl/zpjlXU): “Trump said during the campaign that the U.S. has “bigger problems than Assad” and that as president he’d “bomb the hell” out of Islamic State. He said he’d coordinate the effort with Putin, something the Obama Administration has so far refused to do.”
17.01.18 NTV News24 (https://goo.gl/gm6KwZ): It states that Russia’s invitation to Trump administration to the Syria peace talk indicates a willingness for the two countries to improve relationship.
17.01.22 NTV News24 (https://goo.gl/LsiVmM): It states that US will send ambassador to attend the peace talk and “Trump administration which wants to improve relationship with Russia for the first time cooperate with Putin administration on international stage”.
17.01.24 NHK News (https://goo.gl/Y8c2BX): It says Trump administration is positive in cooperation with Russia (though not explicitly states if it’s only on Syria civil war or overall foreign policy). It also said Trump expressed wish to improve relationship with Russia and may confirm Russia taking lead in this issue.
17.01.24 Nikkei (https://goo.gl/1k7yyd): It says Trump expressed wish to improve relationship with Russia since election campaign, pointed out IS is threat and mentioned possibility to cooperate with Russia on this issue.
17.01.28 Newsweek by Reuters (https://goo.gl/mDxC6U): “Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to try to rebuild U.S.-Russia ties and to cooperate in Syria, the Kremlin said on Saturday, after the two men spoke for the first time since Trump’s inauguration.”
17.02.06 The Japan Times (https://goo.gl/8uN8v7): “The new president has advocated working with Russia to combat the Islamic State group in Syria. “If Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS, which is a major fight, and Islamic terrorism all around the world, major fight. That’s a good thing,” Trump told Fox.” / “Trump’s repeated criticism of NATO — a common target for Putin — has only fueled suspicions that Trump is ready to side with Moscow over allies in Europe.”
17.02.07 Reuters Commentary (https://goo.gl/2eMzgF): “If the Trump-Putin relationship stays warm, the U.S. president might consider cutting off support for the broader Syrian rebel movement and partnering with Russia and the Bashar al-Assad regime to fight solely against Islamic State.”
17.03.17 AP (https://goo.gl/8VhXhF): “Trump has spoken glowingly of Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed hopes for closer cooperation with Moscow.”