For Russia, it doesn’t matter if Trump or Biden wins, as neither is interested in being Moscow’s friend, says top spy Naryshkin

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans want better relations with Moscow after the US election. That's according to the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, who is pessimistic about rapprochement between the nations.

Speaking to Dmitry Kiselev, the boss of media holding Rossiya Segodnya, Sergey Naryshkin explained that neither of the main US political parties have any desire to improve the relationship between Moscow and Washington, as things stand.

“As for Russia, we are, of course, interested in a broader dialogue and in the development of equal relations and cooperation between our two countries,” Naryshkin said. “But, unfortunately, we do not see any signs of such an approach being found in American politics.”

The top spy's comments came on the eve of the 2020 US presidential election, in which Democratic candidate Joe Biden faces off against the incumbent President Donald Trump. Throughout his entire leadership Trump has been accused of being a lackey of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with some claiming he is compromised by the Kremlin.

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However, Trump has shown little willingness to make friends with Moscow by increasing sanctions, pulling out of arms control treaties, and putting pressure on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany. His opponent, Biden, has also shown no love for Russia. While campaigning, the former vice president promised to be tough on the Kremlin, and there is little chance of him removing any of Trump's sanctions, given his rhetoric.

On Tuesday, Professor Roderick Kiewiet from the California Institute of Technology told Russian news agency TASS that extending arms control treaties could be even harder under Biden.

“If Biden is elected, a disarmament deal would be much more difficult to achieve,” Kiewiet said. “I don't think they [the Democratic Party] are capable of a foreign policy that treats Russia fairly.”

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