The Russians had a plan when they installed a stooge to run the Ukrainian government, Yanukovych. 
They wanted to steal land. 
They had Manafort helping them. Today, Yanukovych is living in Russia, under threat of being tried for high treason if he returns to Ukraine. We have Manafort and Trump doing the same thing here in the US, so that Russia can gain the upper hand, or at least not have the US stop their plans. It is getting more and more evident that Trump and Manafort and some others are really traitors. 
I look for Trump to fire Mueller soon. Putin wants as much disruption in the American power structure so he can carry out his next step, whatever that will be. 
This is illuminating how disgustingly power hungry the Republican Party is, other than a few. Trump was right to guess they would go along with absolutely any injury to America, if it meant they could get richer and hurt poor people.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon