Point of view from Russia: Will Americans make Kamala Harris their first woman president?

Will Kamala Harris become USA's first woman president? Are there reasons for Republicans to worry? What is the future of US-Russian relationship? Pravda.Ru asked these and other questions to Alexandra Voitolovskaya, a research fellow in the US Foreign and Domestic Policy Sector at the Primakov Center for North American Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Photo: flickr.com by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0

About Kamala Harris

"When Joe Biden dropped out of the race, he called on voters to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. Many experts consider her a weak opponent for Trump. Why?"

"First of all, she is a woman of Jamaican-Indian descent. There is a fairly large percentage of people in the traditionalist society in America who still do not like the idea of a woman president, let alone a dark-skinned woman.

"Secondly, as vice president, she has showed herself in a rather specific light, perhaps on purpose so as not to overshadow Joe Biden. Nevertheless, she does not have an image of a smart, far-sighted and independent politician."

"She has an image of a politician who laughs all the time, indeed. Yet, is she going to be a serious obstacle that Donald Trump may not even be able to overcome or vice versa?"

"Trump is obviously leading the race now. One can see it in opinion polls even in USA's seven swing states that will probably determine the outcome of US elections this year. Biden showed himself so badly in the debate, his ratings started declining and he eventually bowed out of the race. He probably was forced to. As for Kamala, it is difficult to say how weak she is.

"Compared to Trump, Kamala Harris may show her strength because she is now the young candidate, not Trump. In addition, she is a woman of almost ultra-left liberal values that are shared by both the liberal part of US citizens and moderate Americans.

"That's a large percentage. She needs to win a number of swing states, and this is where she may encounter difficulties, since these states represent Trump's electorate that brought him to power in 2016."

About Donald Trump

"Vladimir Putin said that Joe Biden was more predictable as a political partner for Russia. Do you think Donald Trump is an inconvenient winner for Russia?"

"Donald Trump showed in his previous presidency that his rhetoric differed from his action completely. As we remember, his rhetoric was quite conciliatory, but if we look at his actions, then the list includes:

• Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act;
• USA's pull out from from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF);
• USA's pull out from the Open Skies Treaty.

"These were serious building blocks both for Russian-American relations and for global security, which Trump did not hesitate to destroy. The CAATSA decree legally enshrined the introduction of sanctions against Russia. It was Trump who did that. He could have lifted all the sanctions that Barack Obama had imposed before him. Instead, he passed a law through Congress that enshrined them forever, and now only Congress can lift them."

About J. D. Vance

"Donald Trump's V. P. J. D. Vance appears to be a very complicated figure. Is his candidacy beneficial to Russia?"

"One have to understand here that the vice president is a person who does not decide or direct anything. This is the person who must replace the president in the event of his death or resignation. The vice president is also the head of the senate, he counts electors votes.

"John Adams, the first vice president of the United States, called the vice presidency "the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived."

"Therefore, we are not interested in how negotiable Vance will be if Trump wins. We are interested in his opinion on foreign policy issues in general. Trump needs Vance solely to conquer the "rust belt" states, regain his electorate there and attract the young population, because young people now think of him as an elderly runner. I do not think that Trump will be consulting Vance on foreign policy issues."

Forecasts for US-Russia relations

"What period of relations with the United States is in store for Moscow if Trump comes to power? Do you think Russia has a chance to reach certain agreements in the future on world order issues?"

"There is such a program called Project 2025, unofficially it is considered to be Trump's program, but Trump does not associate himself with it. He has publicly distanced himself from it. The program says that Donald Trump is going to help Kyiv only if Kyiv agrees to negotiations. In other words, this is an ultimatum, but not in relation to Russia, but in relation to Ukraine.

"As for the relations between Russia and the United States under Trump, I assume that we should not expect anything good from them. Trump's previous political course has already shown how pragmatic he can be.

"Trump is an absolute pragmatist, he is most interested in economic benefits. There will be powerful, absolutely uncompromising pressure from the United States in the areas where Russia and the United States have economic intersections.

"As for the relations in the coming years in general, I assume that while the United States is waging a war with Russia through its proxies, there is nothing to talk about here at all. Yet, the Russian leadership remains open to negotiations. The ball is in the opponent's side. Let's wait and see.

"As for Kamala Harris, one should never underestimate mediocre individuals. Once they come to power they may pursue most ardent, uncompromising policies.

"I believe that we are going to see Washington acting in the wake of the Joe Biden presidency, at least in the coming months. We still need to wait until Joe Biden vacates the White House, the inauguration will take place only in January 2025."