Posted on 07/17/2018 4:53:15 PM PDT by be-baw
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a master of diplomatic verbosity and sardonic barbs, summed up the results of the Helsinki summit in just three exuberant words: "better than super."
After four years of getting short shrift by his American counterparts, Russian President Vladimir Putin was standing side by side with President Trump, who lavished him with the words of praise, respect and awe normally only heard on Russian state television.
When Putin militarily intervened in Ukraine in 2014, President Barack Obama called Russia a "regional power" that threatened its neighbors out of weakness, not strength. Russia's annexation of Crimea set off a precipitous decline in relations with the United States. When he took office, Trump could not reverse the trend because of accusations that Moscow interfered in the 2016 election.
And then, without any change in Kremlin policy, Trump agreed to sit down one-on-one with Putin.
"The summit was yet another small miracle created by Trump," columnist Edward Lozansky wrote in the newspaper Izvestia. "As much as they tried to humiliate Trump or give him unsolicited advice, the American president disdainfully brushed aside his enemies and confidently strode to his goal."
The official government paper headlined its lead story on Tuesday with the words "Ball in play" over a photograph of Putin giving a soccer ball to Trump during the post-summit news conference. State TV focused on the imagery of the two men meeting in the picturesque Finnish capital and used the words "substantive" and "productive" to describe a meeting that had produced no formal agreements — not even a final communiqué.
The business daily Vedomosti was more cautious, using the headline "Dialogue without guarantees."
"They're not cracking open the champagne in the Kremlin but are getting ready for long, hard work," said Tatiana Stanovaya, a Russian political analyst. "They didn't plan to close any deals or move ahead on any issues. They wanted to legitimize dialogue — to bring it back."
Trump Walks Back Controversial Comments On Russian Election Interference POLITICS Trump Walks Back Controversial Comments On Russian Election Interference There is relief in the Kremlin that Trump didn't do anything unpredictable, make any demands on which further cooperation would depend or just appear ambivalent, according to Stanovaya. But despite the friendly atmosphere, she said, the Kremlin is aware Trump could still end up taking them by surprise.
Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, says that in the short term, the Kremlin can be happy about Putin's burnished image as a statesman who holds his own with the U.S. president.
Trump's Helsinki Bow To Putin Leaves World Wondering: Why? ANALYSIS Trump's Helsinki Bow To Putin Leaves World Wondering: Why? 'Disgraceful,' 'Pushover,' 'Deeply Troubled': Reaction To The Trump-Putin Summit POLITICS 'Disgraceful,' 'Pushover,' 'Deeply Troubled': Reaction To The Trump-Putin Summit "The long-term impact can still be pretty nasty, because both presidents missed the chance to move forward on really tough issues like strategic stability involving nuclear arms," said Gabuev.
What's more, Trump's conciliatory, almost apologetic tone toward Putin — he blamed U.S. "foolishness and stupidity" for bad relations — may have played well on Russian television, but in the United States, it's causing outcry from Democrats and Republicans alike.
"Judging by the reaction in the U.S., the whole press conference will create a stinky mess that will not easily go away," said Gabuev.
Kremlin loyalists have been rushing to Trump's defense on social media.
"Hysteria has begun in U.S. over Putin-Trump meeting in Helsinki," tweeted Alexey Pushkov, a Russian senator. "Mainstream media are gleefully attacking Trump. Enormous resistance to normalization of relations with Russia."
"Freedom in America has clearly become the main victim of the establishment's fight against Trump the revolutionary," commentator Sergey Markov posted on Facebook.
NATIONAL SECURITY Feds Charge Russian Student, Linked To NRA, With Conspiracy The arrest in the United States of Russian student Maria Butina shows that "millions can now be quietly arrested for their views," Markov wrote. Butina was charged with secretly working as a Russian agent just hours after the Helsinki meeting ended.
"Putin will be cautious and observe what happens with the fallout from this summit," said analyst Gabuev. "If he discovers that Trump can absorb the damage, he will move very carefully toward a next meeting, but probably not in the U.S."
The summit came about after a phone call in March, when Trump congratulated Putin on his re-election to a fourth term and invited him to the White House.
Putin's Washington visit may still be a ways off and depends on the political situation in the United States.
If the Republicans have a strong showing in the November midterm elections and Trump gets a mandate to stay the course, Gabuev said, the two presidents will be able to start planning their next summit.
The same commie media that said years ago that Russia was not the enemy and were good people, now call Russia the devil because there is a Republican in the White House..go back in time when the same commies in the press were laughing their asses off when Mitt Romney talked about Russia, these are the same people now who want Russia wiped off the map
Thank you for the post!
Trump should respond the same way.
This will trigger the DUmmies and the MSM. As if they needed anymore help.
The US media wants to start WWIII. Idiots.
17 Jul: Tass: Russia ready to send request to US over questionings in Browder case
Browder donated $400,000 to US Democrats, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office says
“Within the framework of a probe into a criminal case against William Browder and his criminal group, we are ready to send another request to the US competent agencies for a possibility to question these staffers of US special services, some other public officers of the US and a number of entrepreneurs in order to later charge them with the crimes committed by Browder,” Kurennoy said.
Browder has transferred $400,000 to accounts of the US Democratic Party, Kurennoy said...
“Browder’s criminal group funneled $1.5 billion from Russia into tax havens. Of this sum, at least $400 million was transferred to the Democratic Party’s accounts. Afterwards, our president asked us to correct the sum for $400,000 from $400 million,” Kurennoi said...
http://tass.com/world/1013707
17 Jul: Gateway Pundit: RUSSIA READY to Send Request to US Over Bill Browder and his $400,000 in Controversial Donations to US Democrats
by Jim Hoft
On Tuesday Russian Tass reported that Russia is ready to send a request to the US deep state over Bill Browder’s questioning.
(Update: Russian Tass news says the amount was $400,000 – a mistranslation.)
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/07/russia-ready-to-send-request-to-us-over-bill-browder-and-his-400000-in-controversial-donations-to-us-democrats/
translator says 400 million - no designation of dollars.
16 Jul: Gateway Pundit: VIDEO Putin on Browder
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/07/putin-blows-apart-russia-collusion-probe-says-russian-group-gave-400000000-to-hillary-clinton-video/
I’m not a big fan of Putin. The question is, what is our strategy going to be?
He’s been voted in again. There’s nothing we can do about it. We can talk one on one with him, or we can shut the door and have no communications at all, like we did with China before it opened up.
I don’t think you can do that. There needs to be dialogue.
Those who fire shots at Trump would likely have to do what he’s doing right now. There are few options.
Does this mean that what Putin has done is of no consequence or was rightfully done? No
It’s just that we have to decide how to conduct business from here. I’m glad Trump and Putin are on speaking terms.
unfortunately, Gateway Pundit video left off this final comment from Putin, which was separated by the STAFF (OFF-MIKE) line in Time Mag’s transcript.
definitely the most vital comment in the exchange, even if the amount has been reduced.
STAFF: (OFF-MIKE)
QUESTION: And did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?
PUTIN: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR) Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Because he talked about bringing the U.S.-Russia relationship back to normal.
http://time.com/5339848/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-summit-transcript/
Great article> The Russians are great allies on the war on terrorism. Very effective Christians. Far greater than the moslems in the EU.We are moving toward a great alliance. We elected Trump, Trump sets foreign policy and he is doing fabulous.
The US media wants to start WWIII. Idiots.
= = =
They probably have a lot of old footage of mushroom clouds.
Already edited and prepped for broadcast.
Ditto! It's far better to have some mindshare of these people (Putin, Rocket Man) than to have them off in orbit somewhere. If they even have the thought "what would Trump think of this?" we've made progress. Better yet, Trump gets a phone call before they do something bad.
It was 400 million RUBLES. Which is about 6.5 million DOLLARS.
Thanks MV=PY.
We’re on the same page.
WW-III began with Operation Masterdom
in Vietnam on September 13, 1945
That’s a realistic, grown-up point of view.
It reflects my own.
Thank you for posting it.
LOL
Good line.
Yeah, all of these chicken hawks that are chicken hearted chicken $hits talk about gettin real tough with Russia. They would be the first ones running away from the fight or protesting against a war.
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