Russia State of the Nation Address: Review of Putin's diplomatic achievements in 2017

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Putin's approval rating in Russia has been above 80 percent for several years. Let's take a quick look at his diplomatic performance over the last year. Quan Chenchen has more.

Moscow has described its relations with China as being better than ever before, with intensifying trade and increasing visits by high-ranking officials.

This last year has also been a success for Putin's Middle East policy - with military progress in Syria, together with the peace talks in Astana. And bilateral ties with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran all developed well.

But the Kremlin has failed to restore its relations with the US.

Expectations were high when Putin and US President Donald Trump met for the first time on the sidelines of G20 in July.

No matter how friendly that meeting may have been, it did not translate into a better relations. Instead, less than a month later, Trump signed a bill approving new sanctions against Russia.

However, there's some good news in sports, with the International Olympic Committee having just lifted a ban against Russia, after the remaining tests of the country's athletes at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics all produced negative results.

Russians had been forced to compete as neutrals at the Games after the IOC suspended the Russia's Olympic Committee over a doping scandal at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.