Will the Mueller probe's resolution affect U.S.-Russia relations?
President Donald Trump in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House on Monday. Credit: AP/Susan Walsh
Just as word spread over the weekend that a special counsel's two-year probe found no conspiracy between President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and the Kremlin, two Russian military planes were seen landing in Venezuela.
The planes were sent to "fulfill technical military contracts," Russia's Sputnik news agency reported. Javier Mayorca, a Venezuelan journalist, tweeted that he saw about 100 troops and tons of equipment removed from the planes, Reuters reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin regards the failing left-wing Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, as an ally. The Trump administration regards Maduro's regime as a blight to be removed and recognizes an opposition leader as president.
This is a collision course between rivals — in the backyard of one of them.
For weeks, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been accusing Russia and Cuba of propping up Maduro. Sanctions have been ramped up. On Monday, he said through a State Department spokesman that the U.S. "will not stand idly by” if Moscow keeps sending military personnel to Caracas.
At the same time, however, it was reported that Russia was urging Trump to "reset" relations following the report from special counsel Robert Mueller.
“There’s a chance to renew much in our relations, but the question is whether Trump will take the risk,” Konstantin Kosachyov, a key player in the upper house of parliament, was quoted by Bloomberg News as saying. “We, of course, are ready. And I suggest starting with the most acute issues," namely two major nuclear treaties.
For all Trump's refusal to jeer at Putin as he does at members of the European Union, relations between the old superpower competitors have only soured. Former Trump business associate Felix Sater is due at some point to appear before the House Intelligence Committee and address, along with matters related to Trump business ventures, a nonstarter Ukraine peace proposal he submitted before the election. Sater’s appearance was set for Wednesday but postponed by the committee.
Ukrainian legislator Andrii Artemenko, involved in crafting the plan, sat twice for interviews with Mueller, it was reported nearly a year ago.
The link between the federal election-meddling probe and U.S.-Russia relations clearly has been on Trump's mind before.
At the White House in May 2017, the president told visiting Russian officials that his firing of then-FBI Director James Comey relieved "great pressure" on him.
“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Trump said, according to a leaked transcript. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
Trump spoke too soon. Anxiety over Mueller was still to come.
Now the "great pressure because of Russia" has dissipated for real, but prospects for a thaw in relations still look hazy.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
