The Guardian view on the Trump-Putin summit: Russia is the
winner
Editorial
Donald Trump was not adlibbing when he said his meeting with
Putin might be the easiest part of his Europe trip. That was his intention too
Mon 16 Jul 2018 18.37 BST Last modified on Mon 16 Jul 2018
21.46 BST
Donald Trump meeting Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. Photograph:
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Before he left Washington last week for the Nato summit, his
UK visit and talks with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump raised eyebrows by suggesting
that the meeting in Helsinki on Monday might be the easiest one of the three.
In retrospect, it is clear that this was not an off-the-cuff comment. It was
his plan all along. First rough up Nato in order to damage transatlantic
commitments, then stir things up in Britain in order to damage the EU, and,
finally, play the cooperative statesman in his talks with the Russian
president. Or, to put it another way: bully, bully and cringe.
The European visit and its outcomes have offered a chilling
illustration of Mr Trump’s worldview. His strategy decries the values that
endured in western policy since the defeat of Hitler. It is a conscious break
with the postwar network of alliances and aspiration for universal standards.
It is a return to the era in which big powers have self-interests not allies,
little countries do not matter, and international standards are subordinate to
military might. Because Russia is a significant military power, Mr Trump has
brought it in from the cold. It is not just the cold war that is over. The
post-1945 order of international values and ethics may be ending too.
Mr Trump went into the talks with Mr Putin offering bland
banalities that signalled his readiness to resume business with Moscow: there
were “a lot of good things to talk about”, the two sides had “great
opportunities together”, it would be an “extraordinary relationship” and the
world wanted “to see us get along”. Beside him, Mr Putin put on his stone face,
saying little, giving nothing away. Five hours later, after two sets of talks,
the leaders re-emerged. This time Mr Putin was garrulous. The talks had been
successful and useful. Relations had moved to a different phase. There were no
objective reasons why Russia and the United States could not cooperate
strategically on military, anti-terror, economic and ecological issues. It was
all smiles. Mr Putin even gave Mr Trump a football, to mark the end of Russia’s
successful hosting of the World Cup.
As well he might, because the US president gave the Russian
leader a far bigger present than a football. Mr Trump used the meeting to
smooth Russia’s almost unconditional re-entry into his version of the
international order. If the accounts that the leaders produced at their press
conference on Monday evening are reliable, the issues that have made relations
with Russia so difficult for so long – Ukraine, interference in elections,
cyber disruptions and the Salisbury novichok attack – counted for very little
in their talks. In his overeagerness, Mr Trump essentially gave Mr Putin a free
pass.
Mr Putin was always likely to be the big winner from the
Helsinki meeting. The mere fact that it took place was a victory for the
Kremlin. But Mr Trump made it clear in Helsinki that he regards bygones as
bygones. He is prepared to reset the dial. Mr Trump barely seems to have made
an issue of Moscow’s unilateralism against Ukraine, so much so that Mr Putin
was emboldened to suggest at the press conference that Washington was not
putting enough pressure on Kiev to give in to Russian demands. The practical
impact of the two men’s discussions on Syria and the Middle East remains
unclear, but there was no suggestion that Mr Trump intends to take any kind of
a stand here either. Russian interference in US elections – which has recently
led to 12 Russians being charged – remains a very awkward obstacle. But not
because of Mr Trump, who manifestly does not treat the issue seriously. Mr
Putin returns to Moscow under less pressure than ever on all the difficult
issues.
If Mr Putin is the big winner, Theresa May is one of the
losers. The Salisbury novichok attack counted for nothing in Helsinki. In the
Commons on Monday Mrs May talked about Nato to MPs as though nothing has
changed. Britain and the US were on the same side on burden-sharing. Mr Trump’s
approaches at Nato and in Britain had been constructive. This is nonsense. Mrs
May talks as if the alliance is unchanged when in fact everything is changing.
If she is to avoid Britain and her government becoming collateral damage in Mr
Trump’s dangerous demolition of the global order, she will need to wake up very
fast.
Trump 'treasonous' after siding with Putin on election
meddling
US president under fire after backing Kremlin at joint press
conference with Russian leader
David Smith in Helsinki
@smithinamerica
Mon 16 Jul 2018 18.43 BST First published on Mon 16 Jul 2018
17.27 BST
Donald Trump has been condemned as “treasonous” for siding
with the Kremlin over his own government agencies after a stunning joint
appearance with Vladimir Putin in which he seemingly accepted t
The Russian leader’s denial of election meddling.
At a joint press conference after one-on-one talks lasting
more than two hours in the Finnish capital, the US president offered no
criticism of Putin or the cyber-attacks that the US intelligence community says
he coordinated to help Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
“They said they think
it’s Russia; I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia,” Trump told
reporters. “I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be. I have
great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President
Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
The comments set off a new firestorm in Washington and
critics suggested it was a historically weak performance by a US president
against a foreign adversary. It also fuelled the intrigue of why Trump’s
refusal to speak ill of Putin remains one of the few constants of his White
House tenure.
Asked directly if he took Putin’s word over his own law
enforcement and intelligence agencies, Trump veered off in a rambling attempt
to change the subject, raising the Democratic National Committee’s server and
Hillary Clinton’s missing emails – a move seen by critics as a crude attempt to
deflect and distract.
“Where are those
servers?” Trump demanded. “Where are Hillary Clinton’s emails?”
And bridling at the suggestion that his election victory
might be discredited, Trump added: “I beat Hillary Clinton easily ... We won
that race. And it’s a shame that there can even be a little bit of a cloud over
it ... We ran a brilliant campaign and that’s why I’m president.”
There was swift condemnation from some of Trump’s opponents
in Washington. John Brennan, a former director of the CIA, tweeted: “Donald
Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the
threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of
treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the
pocket of Putin.”
John McCain, chairman of the Senate armed services committee
and a former Republican presidential nominee, said: “Today’s press conference
in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American
president in memory. The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naivety,
egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to
calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake.”
There was even a rebuke from the most senior elected
Republican, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said both the US intelligence
community and the House intelligence committee concluded that Russia interfered
in the election.
“The president must
appreciate that Russia is not our ally. There is no moral equivalence between
the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values
and ideals,” he said. “The United States must be focused on holding Russia
accountable and putting an end to its vile attacks on democracy.”
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate,
said: “In the entire history of our country, Americans have never seen a
president of the United States support an American adversary the way President
Trump has supported President Putin.
“For the president of the United States to side with
President Putin against American law enforcement, American defence officials,
and American intelligence agencies is thoughtless, dangerous, and weak. The
president is putting himself over our country.”
And Jeff Flake, a Republican senator from Arizona, tweeted:
“I never thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on
the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United States for
Russian aggression. This is shameful.”
For his part, Putin acknowledged that he had wanted Trump to
win the 2016 election but reiterated his denial of meddling. Speaking through
an interpreter, he said: “We should be guided by facts. Can you name a single
fact that would definitively prove collusion? This is utter nonsense. Just like
the president recently mentioned.”
In the wake of last week’s indictment of 12 Russian military
officers for hacking and leaking Democratic emails, Putin offered to allow the
special counsel Robert Mueller’s team to visit Russia and witness the accused
being interrogated – but only if the US made a reciprocal arrangement that
would allow Russian agents to operate in the US.
The 45-minute news conference followed a dialogue between
Trump and Putin, with only interpreters present, at the Finnish presidential
palace, followed by a working lunch – the first such event between a US and
Russian president since 2010.
Journalists gathered in a baroque ballroom decorated with
columns, golf leaf and crystal chandeliers and, behind the podium, five
American and five Russian flags. Before the press conference started, a man,
said to be holding a sign protesting against nuclear weapons, was bundled out
of the room by three security guards.
The two leaders were an unlikely match at the podium. Trump,
bigger and taller, had held political office for just 18 months; Putin has been
at the top of government for 18 years.
Trump shook his counterpart’s hand and whispered, “Thank you
very much”, before congratulating him on the successful hosting of the World
Cup. Eager to take credit, he claimed: “Our relationship has never been worse
than it is now. However, that changed as of about four hours ago.”
Later, questioned why relations had deteriorated so badly,
he said: “I hold both countries responsible. I think the United States has been
foolish ... I think we’ve all been foolish. We’re all to blame. We should have
had this dialogue a long time ago ... We have both made some mistakes. I think
the probe is a disaster for our country.”
The comments prompted consternation in Washington.
Republican senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said: “This is bizarre and flat-out
wrong. The United States is not to blame. America wants a good relationship with
the Russian people but Vladimir Putin and his thugs are responsible for
Soviet-style aggression. When the President plays these moral equivalence
games, he gives Putin a propaganda win he desperately needs.”
There was some relief for western diplomats in that the
press conference offered few clues as to whether Trump had made major
concessions that would undermine Nato or Ukrainian sovereignty. Asked about
Crimea, Putin said Trump “continues to maintain that it was illegal to annex
it. Our viewpoint is different.”
The Russian leader was also asked about claims that he holds
compromising material on Trump; there have long been rumours of a video tape in
which Trump was caught in a Russian hotel with sex workers. He quipped: “I was
an intelligence officer and I know how dossiers are made up.”
Putin added: “Now to the compromising material, I did hear
this rumour. When Trump visited Moscow back then, I didn’t even know he was in
Moscow.”
Trump interjected: “If they had it, it would have been out
long ago.”
But once again Trump seemed utterly resistant to saying
anything negative about the Russian president. Having branded the European
Union a “foe” over the weekend, he said of Putin: “I called him a competitor,
and a good competitor he is. The word competitor is a compliment.”
Putin, basking in the afterglow of Russia’s hosting of the
World Cup, presented Trump with a football and said: “Now the ball is in your
court.” Trump, smiling, replied: “That will go to my son Barron, no question.”
He threw it to his wife, Melania, sitting on the front row along with secretary
of state, Mike Pompeo, and other senior officials.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina,
tweeted: “ ... if it were me, I’d check the soccer ball for listening devices
and never allow it in the White House.”
Trump shows he trusts an ex-KGB agent more than US
intelligence
New line on Russia opens up an unprecedented chasm between
London and Washington
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Mon 16 Jul 2018 19.16 BST Last modified on Tue 17 Jul 2018
00.13 BST
Trump and Putin in Helsinki. The US president made repeated
references to the start of a new era.
For those hoping the US president would refrain from making
unwarranted concessions to Vladimir Putin, the omens were not good. Before his
departure for Europe, Trump predicted the Putin conversation was likely to be
easier than his discussions with his Nato allies and Theresa May.
He tweeted hours before the meeting that relations between
the US and Russia were so poor because of American foolishness and stupidity,
thus exonerating Putin for much of his behaviour in the past decade. In so
doing Trump went into the Helsinki conference chamber not quite naked, but at
least pleading guilty on his country’s behalf.
In the opening exchanges of the meeting, prior to the
ushering out of the photographers, Trump declared the world wanted to see
Russia and the US get along. Listing the issues he predicted he would discuss,
Trump omitted from his chosen agenda any challenging subject such as Ukraine,
or the evidence that Russian intelligence agencies interfered in the 2016 US
presidential elections.
From the very first minute of their 45-minute press
conference, Trump deferred to Putin, allowing him to make the opening lengthy
statement setting out the parameters of what had been discussed and what had
been agreed – in essence a new era of intelligence, military, political and
business cooperation that unravels the second cold war caused by Russia’s
intervention in Ukraine in 2014.
In some specific areas – future economic sanctions against
Russia, the ending of the war in Syria, including the future role of Iran, the
recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and the role of Nato troops in
the Baltics – there was little detail. But Trump accepted the Syrian civil war
was at an end, as long as Israel’s interests were respected.
But Trump’s repeated references to the start of a new era
made it clear that the US president wants these frozen conflicts to be
defrosted, and in many cases, responsibility for their existence lies with
America, not Russia. The two sides’ bureaucracies will now be set in motion,
probably starting with talks on arms control. It may well be that the US state
department proves less supine than the president.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Trump’s European tour was
how much the tone of near-docile respect to Putin, and to Russia, stood in
stark contrast to the insults he dished out over the previous six days to the
EU, his declared foe, and to Nato, May and Angela Merkel.
Trump’s performance in Helsinki was a second wounding blow
to May in less than a week. The UK has been the most forward of European powers
in its criticisms of Russia. But Trump made no reference to the British
intelligence assessment that Russia was responsible for a nerve agent attack in
Wiltshire that resulted in the death of a British citizen last week.
This new approach to Russia opens an unprecedented chasm in
judgment between London and Washington about how to handle the country that has
been the west’s premier adversary since 1945.
The US-UK relationship is based on intelligence cooperation
and a common loyalty born of history, but Britain now has to absorb the fact
that the US president is willing to trust the word of a former KGB agent ahead
of the consensus of his own intelligence community. The killer quote that will
send a chill through western intelligence agencies runs as follows: “I have
President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it
would be.”
Once it was thought the Trump doctrine was no enemies, no
allies, just permanent destabilisation. After the last six days, it is possible
even that Hobbesian assessment is wrong. Trump, for whatever contorted reason,
does have an ally, but that ally does not reside in western Europe
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