MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris will probably not be independent in foreign policy issues and is set to continue the party's policy, Sergey Samuilov, head of the Center for Research on the US Foreign Policy Mechanism.
The center is part of the Institute of the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
"Kamala Harris is essentially an amateur in foreign policy. If she becomes president and there are enough qualified aides around her, including foreign policy aides, she will follow their advice," Samuilov told TASS. "Behind the aides will be certain forces, including those from the defense industry, which makes nice money from the hybrid war that the United States and the collective West are waging against Russia on the territory of Ukraine."
According to the researcher, if Harris wins the election, "there will be no serious improvements in bilateral relations."
"The strength of the US Democratic Party is its powerful party apparatus. Harris will follow the course of the party apparatus, which is set up in the way that Joe Biden acted, that is, to support Ukraine and meet the interests of the defense industry," he said.
While Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to the researcher, occasionally spoke about the need to improve relations with Russia, in terms of sanctions and diplomatic warfare he "surpassed the presidents who led the United States during the Cold War." Unlike Harris, Trump "has his own position and can impose his will, for which he is hated by the ‘deep state,’" Samuilov said.
Still, the victory of the Republican candidate, according to the researcher, could spur certain progress in relations between Russia and the United States.
"During the first term, a president is fighting for reelection, and during the second term he must do something good in the US foreign policy to make history," he said. "And that means Trump could soften his position and come to some sort of agreements with us."