In the advent of his trip there, President Obama issued his thoughts on various domestic political matters in Russia. Meanwhile, his Russia adviser Michael McFaul issued a statement making clear that on the two most important issues to Russia, NATO expansion and missile defense in Central Europe, “we’re not going to reassure or give or trade anything with the Russians.” Reassuring and giving and trading is the nature of diplomacy. Given that reality, one wonders what the administration really hopes to achieve.