Insta

Trump Blames ‘US Stupidity’ For Poor Relations With Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry ‘Agrees’

Swarajya Staff

Jul 17, 2018, 02:39 PM | Updated 02:39 PM IST


Trump and Putin at the meeting in Helsinki. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Trump and Putin at the meeting in Helsinki. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

United States (US) President Donald Trump blamed his country's 'stupidity' for poor relations with Russia ahead of his much awaited summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Hans India has reported.

In a tweet, Trump blamed former President Obama and Hilary Clinton for ruining the relationship with Russia. He claimed that Obama had downplayed Russian intervention in US presidential polls before his election, but the issue became a 'big deal' when he had won.

Further he called the investigation over Russian intervention in US presidential election a 'rigged witch hunt' and claimed that US relationship with Russia was at its worst before his summit with Putin. Russia has consistently denied its involvement in the US presidential elections.

The Russian Foreign Ministry quoted Trump's tweet with the comment "We agree".

Later Trump added that he had great confidence in his intelligence agencies but preferred to put the past behind him for the sake of better relations between two "largest nuclear powers" of the world. Further he said that he would, "rather take a political risk in pursuit of peace, than to risk peace in pursuit of politics."

In an interview with CBS prior to the summit, Trump was quoted as saying, "Russia is a foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly, they are a foe. But that doesn't mean they're bad. It doesn't mean anything. It means that they are competitive. They want to do well and we want to do well."

Trump backed Russia in his press conference after his Helsinki summit with Putin and denied any foreign involvement in US elections.

Trump's meeting with Putin, however, has been met with negative opinions from his own party men back in the US. Senator John McCain called Trump's meeting with Putin as a "tragic mistake" and "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory", ABC has reported. Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief John Brennan has called Trump's conduct as "treasonous". Trump has been portrayed as a pushover who bowed to Putin by sections of media in the US.


Get Swarajya in your inbox.


Magazine


image
States