Pompeo to visit Russia as Trump pivots to repairing relations post-Mueller report

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will make his first trip to Russia, arriving in Moscow on Monday and meeting with Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday in Sochi.

The trip is an important step in President Donald Trump’s pivot back to trying to repair relations with Russia – a goal of his since he was a presidential candidate.

But it comes with intense scrutiny over how Trump has approached Russia, praising Putin, downplaying his aggression around the world, and declining to condemn his oppression at home — even as his administration has taken strong action against his war in Ukraine, the poisoning of a former spy in the United Kingdom, and more.

It also comes less than a month after special counsel Robert Mueller released his report detailing extensive contacts between the Trump administration and the Russian government, but finding no conspiracy to interfere in the election.

Last Friday, Trump and Putin spoke, with the president saying Putin “sort of smiled” as they talked about how the Mueller investigation “started off as a mountain and it ended up being a mouse.”

“Getting along with Russia and China, getting along with all of them is very good thing, not a bad thing. It’s a good thing,” he added.

A senior State Department official wouldn’t say if the long-awaited release of that report is why Pompeo is now ready to head to Moscow. But they told ABC News the trip is a “good opportunity… to take that conversation [with Russia] to a higher level and for a frank exchange of views on where the challenges and opportunities are.” Read more

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