CNN: Trump declares 'nobody has been tougher on Russia' in meeting with Baltic leaders
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump declared "nobody has been tougher on Russia" during a meeting with the heads of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the White House on Tuesday.
The declaration comes as tension between Russia and the United States has ratcheted up in recent weeks.
"Getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump said. "Now maybe we will and maybe we won't. Probably nobody's been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump. If you take a look at our military strength now, which probably wouldn't have happened if the opponent had won ... We're now exporting oil and gas. This is not something that Russia wanted."
Trump added that "just about everyone agrees" getting along with Russia is a good thing "except very stupid people."
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The Baltic states have large Russian minorities within their territory .... especially on the Russian border. Aside from the widespread discrimination that targets this Russian minority, we now have this in the news .... Russia threatens sanctions over Latvian language in schools (BBC). Here is an easy observation .... no one is going to bring this up in today's White House meeting.
More News On President Trump Meeting The Leaders Of Estonia, Latvia And Lithuania At The White House
Trump holds press conference with Baltic States' leaders — live updates -- CBS News
Trump Hosts News Conference During Baltic Summit At White House -- NPR
Trump Hosts Baltic Leaders As Tensions Rise Between Washington & Moscow -- Voice of America
Donald Trump to Baltics: I've been tough on Russia, but want better relations -- USA Today
Balts Reportedly Asking US for More Troops and Arms to 'Deter Russia' -- Sputnik International
6 comments:
This is bad optics to meet with these leaders at this time. With the Mueller investigation going on it doesn't look good. It looks like he may be trying to act tough towards Russia to take some of the heat off. Perhaps it would have been best to hold off on these meetings until after the investigation is completed.
there you go again
they want American support against encroaching Russian threats and so you say no no no (nyet)...do not help them just yet...tip: get a wee bit subtle...We do not know what he will do...either they are our friends and allies, or they are not. Seems you would put off any act of friendship
Actually I was being somewhat sarcastic nevertheless the logic does hold. During the current investigations/etc it is supposed to be bad optics to have a meeting with Putin. Then it would also be bad optics to meet with these people. It may look as though POTUS is trying to take the heat off of a domestic investigation. Perhaps we should place all diplomacy on hold until we resolve this issue.
"We do not know what he will do...either they are our friends and allies or they are not." Actually I think I have a pretty good idea what "he" as in POTUS will do. He has been very, very tough on Russia while trying to walk a tightrope of keeping open the possibility of a diplomatic process open.
"Seems like you would put off any act of friendship." Not really. With that said I am not convinced these are our friends. The look like users of America than friends to me. They get our military support, this places us in conflict with Russia that we don't really need, may not be able to win, and no one has really explained why they are worth this. I think we will need more respect and understanding from them before we can call them friends. Of course leaders who base their policies on ideology and not common sense or American interests are subject to be easily manipulated.
Also, we need to examine the costs of such "friendship" and see what the net benefit is. I'm not convinced these are worth the costs and the risks to the American people. In any event, with the situation we are currently in perhaps it would have been best to hold off on this meeting until after this is all cleared up. Besides this could be handled the same way that Trump/Putin interactions are handled. Do this over the phone and no act of friendship has to be put off. Just like no act of diplomacy needs to be put off with the Russians because someone feels they need to divert valuable resources for a partisan political investigation.
"No one is going to bring this up in today's white House meeting." I agree with the editor but I think someone should. Essentially these "alliances" are enormously costly, their benefit to us is dubious at best, and we are already militarily stretched close to the breaking point with burdens on the American people and the military that it is of questionable ethics to place on them. They need to be mindful of their Russian populations in their communities. Perhaps if it were explained to them that they needed to behave reasonably as a condition of these "alliances" we might see better behavior on their part and a resolution to these conflicts might become more likely.
Please please please stop being so obvious, comrade
We should build a wall in the Baltic's to keep the baby killing Bolshevik savavages in Russia !
Obvious about what? I'm trying to advocate for what I truly believe is in America's best interests. The current actions seem almost calibrated to inflame tensions against a very powerful country and inflaming tensions in the new cold war that could easily lead to a hot war that we may not be able to win. In order to justify such actions, the leaders need to put forth their evidence. So far this is lacking. Now if you can't see this, I simply cannot help you.
Perhaps you have become so bitter that your judgment has been clouded. Only you would be able to answer this.
Now back to the topic at hand. POTUS can't meet with the Russian leader who is arguably the most powerful person on the planet, who can hurt us very badly, has many things we could really use, and having an adversarial relationship with him for no good reason is counterproductive/ At least sufficient evidence has yet to be presented to suggest that this is necessary.
Okay I get this, bad optics on both sides right now. The parties can still do what they need to do over the phone and through vide conferencing etc. During the Mueller investigation it is going to be bad optics to be having meetings with the Baltic states as well. It may give the appearance that someone is trying to look tough to take the heat off.
Simply hold off on face to face meetings with all involved parties until the investigation is completed or better yet simply have face to face meetings with these leaders as well as Mr. Putin. Come to think of such an approach might actually have a chance of getting something done.
As we don't want "to put off any act of friendship" and if face to face meetings are necessary, then go for it. In the same vein we don't want to put off any act of diplomacy with Russia. Therefore we should meet with them as well.
"Please please please stop being so obvious." Here you go again. Having lost your argument and lost it soundly based upon the merits of it you put forth you must now resort to name calling.
With that said Russian and American leadership seem to be in agreement that a face to face meeting is not the best approach right now. It seems everyone has reached this conclusion in different ways but this seems to be the conclusion. It's to bad really. If there is a silver lining, everything the relevant parties need to do can probably be done on the phone or other modern technologies.
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