Abstract. The article explores domestic and international factors and drivers that shape the US foreign policy decision-making process on the Russian track and its political implementation. Main focus is concentrated on the Obama administration’s foreign policy priorities and approaches towards Russia in connection with the Ukrainian crisis. The author analyses positions and political attitudes of main groups within the US foreign policy elite concerning this crisis and other complicated issues on the agenda of Russian-American relations. The article includes an overview of motives and priorities of the US policy towards Russia during past six years and explores its dynamics in the final period of second Obama’s administration.