"If Hillary Clinton becomes President Clinton, I think relations with Russia from everything we’ve seen, from what she says and from who her advisers are, I think it’s 100 percent or 90 percent chance they will worsen at least in the short term," McAdams stated.
McAdams explained that Clinton has been very "aggressive" toward Russia, including during the third presidential debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
"In the last presidential debate, she even accused Russian President [Vladimir] Putin of personally being involved to try to elect Donald Trump as president. It’s an incredible accusation, and I think it will worsen relations, certainly in the short term," he said.
"The problem with Trump is that you don’t really know what his position is from day to day. He has said consistently, and in the last debate, why is it so bad if the United States and Russia get along? And that’s something that Hillary camp will not accept," he said.
McAdams went on to say that Trump is also very aggressive toward Russia's allies — Iran and China.
A poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center revealed earlier in October that almost one-third of Russians, or 29 percent, think that Trump's victory in the November elections will lead to the improvement of US-Russia relations, while only 4 percent could see an improvement in Washington-Moscow ties if Clinton is elected.
Almost every third Russian — 35 percent — say they think Trump's victory would be better for Russia’s national interests, while only 6 percent say the same with respect to Clinton. More than 20 percent say they think that neither of the nominees is good for Russia's interests.
US citizens are set to elect a new president on November 8, with Barack Obama's successor being inaugurated on January 20, 2017.
