Trump suggests US accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea

Trump later said he was just kidding and being sarcastic. He also suggested he would consider easing sanctions on Russian Federation and recognising its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.

On Friday, the DCCC, which raises money and provides other assistance for Democratic House candidates, acknowledged a digital break-in of its computers that it said resembled the DNC hack.

Trump attempted to clarify his position on the conflict between Ukraine and Russian Federation in a series of tweets Monday morning, after he was criticized for his muddled response in the interview.

I’m talking about the apparent lack of knowledge that Trump exhibits on anything Russia-related, like, for instance, the fact that Moscow has been supporting separatist forces in Eastern Ukraine for over two years.

“I was in Russian Federation, I was in Moscow recently and I spoke, indirectly and directly, with President Putin, who could not have been nicer, and we had a tremendous success”.

And just as foreign policy has come to the forefront of the campaign, Clinton has widened her edge over Trump as more trusted to handle foreign policy (59% Clinton to 36% Trump, up from a 5-point split following the GOP convention) and has pulled even with Trump on handling terrorism (48% each – Trump was +11 after the GOP convention) and ISIS (48% Clinton to 47% Trump – was a 13-point Trump lead after the GOP convention). “He’s not going into Ukraine, okay?” They say Russian Federation continues to train rebels and direct low-level attacks against Ukrainian forces on the front line. Western governments accuse Russian Federation of sending troops and weapons to Ukraine, but Moscow denies that.

“I met with them, and Mr. Trump’s team, and everybody told me that ‘everything’s okay, we keep this position, we reject any annexation of your territory in Crimea from Russian side, ‘” Chaly said. “And you have to look at that, also… just so you understand, that was done under Obama’s administration”. By calling into question established structures and alliances that have held since World War II, Trump is unsettling allies and encouraging potential instability that inevitably draws the USA to intervene. But that is only part of the story. Stephanopoulos responded, in a reference to Crimea, which Putin took from Ukraine in early 2014. And the world community nearly universally panned the annexation.

“As far as Ukraine is concerned, it’s a mess”.

In the Wall Street Journal, Schweizer details the connections between the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton State Department, the Obama Administration and the Putin government. Mr Manafort was previously employed by Viktor Yanukovych, who was democratically elected Ukraine’s leader in 2010 and who sought to return his country to Russia’s orbit of influence after two decades of post-independence politics that had seen Ukraine look to Europe and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Ukraine has never been part of the 28-member organization. Baltic states also called for a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation build-up in their countries, citing similar fears. According to Trump, his experiences in presenting the pageant that year makes him an expert on Russian Federation. These connections, among others, have prompted USA officials to question whether the Trump campaign should have access to classified briefings. Much of the criticism has been unfair.

“I will do better and yet we will have better relationship with Russian Federation – maybe”. This was a long time ago. He again said Putin had called him a “genius”, a claim that received Four Pinocchios from The Washington Post Fact Checker.

Putin was outraged by USA support for Ukraine and by US military intervention around the world, particularly in Libya, on Clinton’s watch. Instead, the campaign worked behind the scenes to replace the pledge to provide weapons with a call for “appropriate assistance”.

In the past, Trump’s campaign manager, political strategist Paul Manafort, lobbied on behalf of Viktor Yanukovych, a Ukrainian president and supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin.