The foreign policy of the united states . . . is characterized in the postwar period by a striving for world supremacy. this is the real meaning of the many statements by president truman and other representatives of american ruling circles; that the united states has the right to lead the world. —nikolai novikov, ambassador of the ussr, september 1946 which sentence best describes the mutual distrust between the united states and the ussr? both countries realized that their rival was just trying to maintain its own security. both countries felt that their rival could be trusted. both countries felt that their rival was planning to take over the world. both countries believed they were secure from military threat.