I recommend Ivan Krastev's commentary Strong Enough for a "Reset" with Russia? in today's Washington Post. We Americans have our (probably not entirely accurate) view of Russia, but of course Russians have their own (probably not entirely accurate) view of America. Each of us sees the other through our own experiences and expectations, which is probably the source of a good deal of misunderstanding.
So Krastev's comments are helpful, since Russian reactions to our political moves and offers will be driven not by who we really are, but by who the Russians think we are.