ANALYSIS - No Prospect For Improving US-Russia Relations Despite Mueller Finding No Collusion

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2019) Despite the Mueller Report's finding that there was no collusion whatsoever between President Donald Trump and Russia in the 2016 presidential elections, there are no prospects for improved bilateral ties, analysts told Sputnik on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the Justice Department released a redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report on his investigation into allegations of Trump-Russia collusion and Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.

Russia has repeatedly denied meddling in the US political system, saying the allegations were made up to excuse the loss of Trump's opponent as well as deflect public attention from actual instances of election fraud and corruption.

US FOREIGN POLICY HIJACKED BY NEOCONSERVATIVES

"Unfortunately, this will likely not happen," Eurasia Center Vice President Earl Rasmussen said of the prospects for improved US-Russia relations. "Mr. Trump is surrounded by neoconservatives who are also cheered by the elite in both parties. I do not see a constructive foreign policy evolving until after the 2020 elections at the earliest."

Instead, Trump would continue his reckless, go-it-alone policy of outraging major nations like Russia and China and traditional allies of the United States alike, Rasmussen cautioned.

"The current foreign policy team has hijacked foreign policy from the president [is] seeking and is taking us in a very dangerous direction not only causing increased tensions between other global powers, but also further alienating traditional allies," Rasmussen said.

The outcome of the massive Mueller investigation should have come as no surprise to anyone, Rasmussen pointed out.

"This should be a surprise. The outcome of no collusion is because there was none and never has been any collusion with the Russians. Of course, many knew this from the beginning especially those who were often working against the president," he said.

Even some of Trump's critics and enemies examined by Mueller had admitted this reality, Rasmussen noted.

"Moreover, let alone no collusion, Russia did not meddle in our election: At least as compared to US meddling in elections and internal affairs around the world [with] both allies and adversaries," Rasmussen said.

The collusion claims had always been false and had been pursued with the aim of driving Trump from power and preventing him from improving relations with Russia, Rasmussen explained.

"Unfortunately, Russiagate is a tragic hoax that was intended to either unseat President Trump or the very least limit his ability to conduct foreign policy as he had stated during the campaign and to seek rapprochement with Russia," Rasmussen said.

Now, although the collusion charge had been disproven, the political negative dynamics it had unleashed would remain, Rasmussen cautioned.

"Those who were advocating collusion will seek another reason to oppose the president or attempt to discredit the investigation. Unfortunately, the media has embedded a false narrative in the minds of many and that perspective will not drift away anytime soon if ever," he said.

Nevertheless, the fiasco of the affair would "undoubtedly" cause some backlash towards both the US mainstream media and the Democratic Party, Rasmussen observed.

"Unless Democrats can choose someone out of the norm and who can address many of the issues that are of concern to the vast majority of Americans which include stopping our continued foreign intervention escapades, they will set themselves up to lose in 2020," Rasmussen concluded.

TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION CHARGES WERE ALWAYS SUSPECT

University of Pittsburgh Professor of International Relations Michael Brenner agreed that the Trump-Russia collusion narrative and accusations had never made any sense and should have been highly suspect from the very beginning.

"Collusion was highly improbable from the outset: There was no concrete evidence and the entire alleged scheme made no sense," Brenner said.

Brenner also agreed there was no prospect at all of seeing superpower relations improve from the deep freeze into which the Russiagate hysteria and false accusations had cast them.

"Absolutely not: [Trump] and his entire administration - as well as the foreign policy community in general - have followed a consistent line of hostility toward Russia from day one," Brenner said.

However, Trump's exoneration from Russiagate was also likely to have zero impact on his political and reelection prospects, good or bad, Brenner noted.

"Electoral effect will be minimal: Every poll shows that Russiagate has had little saliency for most Americans," he said.

Yet there were related issues of some significance that the Democrats could seek to further investigate, Brenner remarked.

"There are related issues that they could pursue. Crimes were committed. Obstruction of justice did occur. If you promise key witnesses (Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort) that they could get a pardon if they observe Omerta, that's cut-and-dried obstruction," he said.

Trump's son, Donald Junior had also committed perjury by any standard, Brenner continued.

Allegations that Trump had violated US election laws by bribing the National Enquirer tabloid not to run pornography actress Stormy Daniels' stories and investigations into his New York City real estate business could prove worth probing, Brenner suggested.

However, "I doubt that any of this will be pursued because a lot of other prominent people will exposed- including [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and the Russo-Israeli mafia he protects," Brenner said.

The Democrats and the US media had totally misread former FBI Director Robert Mueller, Brenner explained.

Mueller "is a 'company man' through and through... As a legal consultant in Washington, DC, he offered himself as the ultimate neutral arbitrator, but always came down on the side of whomever paid him," Brenner said.

Current Attorney-General William Barr and his associates had handled the report in a sloppy and partisan way that would have embarrassed any developing world dictatorship, Brenner concluded.