US president-elect to stop US hostility toward Russia: Pundit

After the United States decided to expel 35 Russian diplomats from Washington and close down two Russian facilities, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided not to expel American diplomats in a tit-for-tat reaction. Washington has accused the Kremlin of intervening in the 2016 US presidential election via cyber-attacking. The American authorities have also talked about imposing sanctions against Russia. On Wednesday, US President-elect Donald Trump dismissed allegations of Russian intervention in the election, called  for ties with Moscow to be mended.

Scott Rickard, a former American intelligence linguist from Tampa, says that the change of US administration is going to alter America’s hostile policies toward Russia.

“A slowdown of this anti-Russian rhetoric that has been pushed” by the incumbent US administration will occur after Trump takes office, Rickard told Press TV on Friday night.  

He stated the Trump administration is expected to pave the way for slowing down from what the current administration is backing in Ukraine and Syria as well as their anti-Russia policies.

The US president-elect, however, is getting information from some advisers who are pursuing anti-Russia policies, Rickard said. 

“Trump has surrounded himself with some hawkish neocon and extremely anti-Russian individuals and his intelligence community contacts are going to feed him with information that would probably not be legitimate.”  

Rickard also criticized the Republicans, who are not supporting Trump’s strategy toward Russia, saying the anti-Russia politicians in the United States are financed by the arms industry and banking sectors, which themselves are under the influence of the Israeli lobby.

Elsewhere, the former intelligence linguist touched on Washington’s long history of intervention in other countries domestic affairs.

“The United States has worked through color revolutions and many different activities along Russian borders turning former Russian states actually into NATO allies and occupying those countries in violation of what was put together post World War II,” he said.

“The United States has been extremely aggressive not only against Russia but against many countries around the world, not only conducting espionage but manipulating elections left and right,” he added. 

Brent Budowsky, a columnist at The Hill from Washington, said he supports what President Obama did in his expulsion of Russian diplomats, calling it a “smart move”.

The columnist referred to the stances of the US Congress and Trump on the Obama administration’s hostile move against Russia.

“Most Republicans in Congress as well as Democrats support the sanctions that were imposed by President Obama and Trump will not be able to reverse it with a big vote.”

Budowsky accused Russia of meddling in the US presidential election, claiming that "there is absolutely no disagreement anywhere in the American intelligence community or democratic allies that Russia interfered in our election for the purpose of electing Trump.”

According to Budowsky, the future action of the United States depends on what President Putin will decide to do in response to the Americans’ complaint.

He also touched upon the repercussions of an escalation between Washington and Moscow.

“If there is a continuing escalation, if there is a cyber-war on both sides and the tensions continue, it will hurt both countries but in the end it will hurt Russia more than America.”

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