What does the following sentence mean: "The crisis brought constraints to bear on US-Russia relations"?

Question

Thanks

Answer 1

This is an awkward way of saying "they had a disagreement and they couldn't trust each other."

I hope the rest of your history text features better writing than this.

Answer 2

con·straint (kən-strānt') n.

1. The threat or use of force to prevent, restrict, or dictate the action or thought of others.
2. The state of being restricted or confined within prescribed bounds: soon tired of the constraint of military life.
3. One that restricts, limits, or regulates; a check: ignored all moral constraints in his pursuit of success.
4. Embarrassed reserve or reticence; awkwardness: “All constraint had vanished between the two, and they began to talk” (Edith Wharton).

[Middle English constreinte, from Old French, from feminine past participle of constraindre, to constrain. See constrain.]