Trump flays ‘stupidity’ of US policy on Russia

Helsinki, July 16 

Donald Trump met one-on-one with Vladimir Putin behind closed doors on Monday in a long-awaited summit overshadowed by the US President blaming his own country’s past “foolishness and stupidity” for the two powers’ hostile ties.

Just days after a special prosecutor indicted 12 Russian agents for stealing documents from the Democratic Party to help Trump win the 2016 presidential election, Trump went into his talks with Putin without a word of criticism for Moscow.

Instead, he tweeted: “Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of US foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!” The Russian foreign ministry “liked” his words and tweeted back: “We agree”.

After two hours alone in a room with their interpreters, Trump and Putin convened a more traditional-style bilateral meeting, seated at a large conference table surrounded by senior officials from both countries. Trump called the private talks with the Kremlin leader a “good start”.

Earlier Trump began the meeting with warm words for Putin, seated next to the Russian leader in an ornate presidential palace in Finland, and said it was a longstanding goal of his to improve US-Russian ties. “I think we will have an extraordinary relationship. I hope so. I’ve been saying it, and I’m sure you’ve heard over the years, and as I campaigned, that getting along with Russia is good thing, not a bad thing,” he said.

But to Trump’s critics, the friendly words lay in the shadow of his denunciation of his own country’s prior policies, which he tweeted hours before Putin arrived. In his remarks at the outset, he mentioned none of the issues that have lately brought US-Russian ties to the lowest point since the Cold War: Moscow’s annexation of territory from Ukraine, its support for Syria’s Assad, UK charges that it poisoned a spy and polls “meddling”. — Reuters

WH is a ‘propaganda arm of Kremlin’: Dems

• Trump’s foes at home were furious over his action— ‘refusal’ to criticise Putin, with one Democratic congressman saying that Trump had turned the White House into ‘a propaganda arm for the Kremlin’
• His 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton tweeted: “Great World Cup. Question for President Trump as he meets Putin: Do you know which team you play for?” 

Why Helsinki?

• This is not the first time US and Russian leaders have met in Helsinki. Finland remained neutral after WW-II, as the US and Soviet Union went headlong into the Cold War, making it an attractive meeting spot for the two superpowers. The Trump-Putin summit  is the fourth such meeting in Finnish capital