ANCHORAGE /Alaska/, August 16. /TASS/. The US administration and the Russian government have a unique opportunity to normalize relations between the two nations, but whether this can be achieved will depend on resolving the situation in Ukraine, Forrest Nabors, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Alaska Anchorage, told TASS.

"One important factor in these negotiations that nobody in the news is discussing, is the effect on American politics of the recent revelations about the American intelligence community. More Americans are learning that our intelligence community falsely accused the Russian government of interfering in our elections in 2016 and falsely accused [US President Donald] Trump of cooperating with Russia to destroy our democracy," the expert remarked, commenting on the outcomes of the Alaska summit between the Russian and US leaders.

"As Americans learn this, they will see that Russia and Trump were victims of this conspiracy, and probably will be more open to normalizing relations with Russia," the expert pointed out.

He also noted that most US residents still hold a negative view of Russia because of the conflict, but that attitudes toward Putin, Zelensky, and the crisis in Ukraine overall have become more mixed compared to three years ago. "In other words, an opportunity is opening to normalize relations, but this opportunity will depend on ending the war," Nabors concluded.

US presidential election of 2016

On July 18, Tulsi Gabbard, Director of US National Intelligence, published a report stating that the administration of the 44th US president, Democrat Barack Obama, had effectively fabricated intelligence data after Republican Trump won the 2016 presidential election, allegedly proving Russian interference in the electoral process. This was done in an attempt to deprive Trump of power, Gabbard noted.

According to her, several months before the election, US intelligence was unanimous: Russia had neither the intention nor the ability to interfere in the US election. However, in December 2016, following Trump’s victory, the Obama administration ordered a new report to be prepared that contradicted previous assessments. Gabbard explained that the intelligence community’s key conclusion — that Russia did not influence the election results — was removed and classified.

In 2016, US intelligence agencies accused Russia of interfering in the electoral process. Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigated these alleged attempts to influence the election. On April 18, 2019, the US Department of Justice released his final report, in which the special counsel acknowledged that he had not found any collusion between Trump, who won the election, and Russia. Trump has repeatedly rejected allegations of improper contacts with Russian officials, while Moscow has dismissed accusations of attempting to influence the US election as groundless.