Speaking at his year-end press conference, 66-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed interest in a new summit with 72-year-old U.S. President Donald Trump on a wide range of issues. With Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russian meddling and alleged Trump collusion probe dominating the headlines, it’s made it next-to-impossible for Trump to improve relations with Moscow. When former President Barack Obama evicted 35 Russian diplomats Dec. 15, 2016, U.S.-Russian relations hit Cold War lows. It’s no wonder Trump wanted to mend relations once he won the Nov. 6, 2016 presidential election, instructing incoming National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to communicate with the 68-year-old former Russian U.S. Amb. Sergey Kislyak. Flynn was crucified by Mueller for talking with Kislyak, accused of violating the U.S. Espionage Act.
Since former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made Trump’s alleged ties to the Kremlin an essential part of her campaign strategy, Trump’s been under the gun defending improving ties with the Russian Federation. Whatever conversations Flynn had with Kislyak during the transition period, they didn’t violate the Espionage Act, 1799 Logan Act or any other U.S. law. Yet letting Hilllary’s paid opposition research AKA “the dossier” taint the narrative, Russian hysteria swept Capitol Hill, making improving U.S.-Russian relations next-to-impossible. Putin wants a dialogue on a “wide ranging agenda” but can’t make any progress with members of the U.S. House and Senate accusing Russia of interfering in the 2016 presidential election. Recent reports from McClatchy Newspapers tied Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen to the Kremlin through an alleged meeting in Prague in late summer 2016.
Cohen denied every being in Prague or anywhere close, despite fake claims coming from McClatchy newspapers. McClatchy’s phony claims were all contained in the unverified Steele dossier, making salacious allegations of Trump’s alleged ties to the Kremlin. When Trump met with Putin in Helsinki July 16 trying to mend fences, Democrats and press accused Trump of treason. Democrats and the press demanded transcripts of their meeting, accusing Trump of betraying his country. “Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia-United States relations are the most important factor for providing strategic stability and international security,” said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, hoping to improve relations in 2019. If it were up the Democrats and mainstream press the U.S. would never resume normal relations with Moscow. Democrats and the press hope that Mueller shows Trump colluded with the Kremlin.
Sanctioning Russia for meddling in the 2016 election, Democrats and press think Russia handed the 2016 elections to Trump, without one shred of evidence. It’s easy for U.S. intel agencies, the FBI and CIA, to blame Russia for meddling in the 2016 election but difficult for anyone to show proof. Trump had vast plans to improve U.S.-Russian relations to cooperate on a host of global issues, including the permanent defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syris [ISIS] and other terrorist groups. Yet Mueller’s Russian probe continues to fuel the paranoia on Capitol Hill making U.S.-Russian relations difficult to improve. “He confirmed that Russia is open to dialogue with the USA on the most wide-ranging agenda,” said Putin. If you listen to Democrats and press, Trump’s only intent in improving U.S.-Russian relations is to enrich himself at the expense of U.S. national security.
Putin’s especially concerned with Trump’s decision to scrap the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty [INF] signed into law into law Dec. 8, 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Russia has violated the INF Treaty for years. “The issue should be addressed to Washington. Both our president and his representatives have said that we are ready for the talks when Washington is read for it,” said Lavrov, quoted in Russia’s state-run TASS News Agency. Putin lost favor with Democrats and Republicans who backed the Saudi proxy war to topple al-Assad in Syria. Putin joined the fight in 2015 to preserve Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Obama spent millions supplying arms-and-cash to Syrian rebels committed to ousting al-Assad.
Mueller’s 19-month-old Russian meddling and alleged Trump collusion probe has harmed U.S. national security by making it impossible for Trump to improve U.S.-Russian relations. U.S.-Russian relations continue as non-existent not because of Trump but because of the Russian hysteria on Capitol Hill. Whatever failure occurred backing the seven-year-old Saudi proxy war in Syria, Trump tried to shift gears, only recently deciding to pull 2,000 U.S. advisers out of Syria. Trump’s decision speaks volumes about interference run by Congress preventing him from improving U.S.-Russian relations. With stronger ties with Russia, the U.S. could easily defeat ISIS, al-Qaeda and other terrorists groups in Syria and Iraq. Forcing Trump to go it alone without Russia, Congress has harmed U.S. national security, continuing to push the unfounded narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
