Former Russian aide to US President George W. Bush, Jr. Thomas Graham, believes that the two countries “are too divided by their views on the world order, geopolitical interests and values”, and their distrust of each other is too great.
Neither U.S. nor Russian politicians and officials are yet ready to do the hard work of taking Moscow-Washington relations out of their current dangerous drift. This view was expressed by former U.S. President George W. Bush – Jr. Thomas Graham, former Russian aide to President George W. Bush, in a conversation with TASS on Sunday, commenting on the prospects for further development of relations between Moscow and Washington in connection with the upcoming U.S. general elections.
“Do not open any bottles of champagne on 3 November. No matter who wins [the U.S. presidential election], the relationship between the U.S. and Russia will remain overshadowed by trouble”, – said the expert. In recent years, he has been Managing Director of Kissinger Associates. The founder and head of the firm is former U.S. Presidential National Security Advisor and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
“The two countries are too divided [by their] views on the world order, geopolitical interests and values. And the mistrust of each other is too great to be different. The question to be asked is who in Washington or Moscow is willing to do the hard work to end the dangerous drift in relations, which will require concessions from both sides. The answer seems to be nobody at the moment”, – says a former White House employee.
He co-authored an open letter that was published in August in Politico magazine and was joined by over a hundred respected American non-governmental professionals, including retired officials who held senior positions in the US government system. They called on Washington to review its policy towards Moscow, warning of the dangers of further deterioration of bilateral ties.
Elections in the USA will be held on 3 November. They will elect the President and Vice-President, all 435 members of the House of Representatives and one third of the US Senate, governors of 13 states and territories. Democrat Joseph Biden will compete with Republican Donald Trump in the presidential election. Trump and Biden’s partners in the electoral race, i.e. candidates for the US Vice-President, are Michael Pence and Kamala Harris. Trump is fighting for re-election: in 2016 he defeated Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton in the Battle of the White House.