News of Trump's reported remarks immediately prompted Russian state media to celebrate, with one host declaring, "Crimea is ours! Trump is ours!"
A large group of Republican lawmakers spent the Fourth of July with Kremlin officials in Moscow for series of rather opaque meetings.
The lack of transparency afforded Russia the critical opportunity it needed to drive home its own narrative of the visit.
Russian state media celebrated the fact that the trip was the first time since the annexation of Crimea that US lawmakers visited Moscow. Russian officials boasted that the Americans had come all the way to Moscow to meet them while they offered few concessions.
Russian media also indicated that the seven US senators and one US representative went out of their way to avoid reporters and members of the press while in Moscow. The state media outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets noted the meetings "were surrounded by a veil of secrecy
Russia puts its own spin on things - with help from Trump
Vyacheslav Nikonov, another member of the Duma who has met with US lawmakers before, told the Post that this meeting "was one of the easiest ones in my life." He added that the question of Russia's election interference was resolved quickly because it "was raised in general form."
"One shouldn't interfere in elections - well, we don't interfere," Nikonov said.
Nikonov's remarks echoed Trump's from just days earlier, when the president deviated again from the US intelligence community and backed Russia on its claim that it did not meddle in the 2016 race.
Klimov's comment also came after Trump, in a stunning break from longstanding US policy, indicated that he is open to recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea.
"We will have to see what happens," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Meanwhile, BuzzFeed reported that Trump told G7 leaders last month that Crimea is part of Russia because people in the territory speak Russian - a major acknowledgement of one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's main foreign policy goals.
News of Trump's reported remarks immediately prompted Russian state media to celebrate, with one host declaring, "Crimea is ours! Trump is ours!"
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...trump-putin-summit/ar-AAzDzed?ocid=spartandhp
A large group of Republican lawmakers spent the Fourth of July with Kremlin officials in Moscow for series of rather opaque meetings.
The lack of transparency afforded Russia the critical opportunity it needed to drive home its own narrative of the visit.
Russian state media celebrated the fact that the trip was the first time since the annexation of Crimea that US lawmakers visited Moscow. Russian officials boasted that the Americans had come all the way to Moscow to meet them while they offered few concessions.
Russian media also indicated that the seven US senators and one US representative went out of their way to avoid reporters and members of the press while in Moscow. The state media outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets noted the meetings "were surrounded by a veil of secrecy
Russia puts its own spin on things - with help from Trump
Vyacheslav Nikonov, another member of the Duma who has met with US lawmakers before, told the Post that this meeting "was one of the easiest ones in my life." He added that the question of Russia's election interference was resolved quickly because it "was raised in general form."
"One shouldn't interfere in elections - well, we don't interfere," Nikonov said.
Nikonov's remarks echoed Trump's from just days earlier, when the president deviated again from the US intelligence community and backed Russia on its claim that it did not meddle in the 2016 race.
Klimov's comment also came after Trump, in a stunning break from longstanding US policy, indicated that he is open to recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea.
"We will have to see what happens," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Meanwhile, BuzzFeed reported that Trump told G7 leaders last month that Crimea is part of Russia because people in the territory speak Russian - a major acknowledgement of one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's main foreign policy goals.
News of Trump's reported remarks immediately prompted Russian state media to celebrate, with one host declaring, "Crimea is ours! Trump is ours!"
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...trump-putin-summit/ar-AAzDzed?ocid=spartandhp
