A prominent Russia analyst says President Trump needs to take a harsher stance against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
When asked whether Trump should call Putin an enemy, Nina Jankowicz said that Trump should see the Russian president as “at least an adversary.”
“Yes, at least an adversary because this is the pattern of behavior we’ve seen and we certainly shouldn’t trust a single word he [Putin] says,” Jankowicz, a global fellow at the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute, told Hill.TV.
Jankowicz thinks Trump needs to do more than bring up Moscow’s alleged interference in the 2016 election during his upcoming meeting with Putin in Helsinki, as Trump has promised to do.
“I want Trump to come out and say unequivocally ‘Russia meddled in our election’ and I want him to press Putin on that,” Jankowicz said.
On Thursday, Trump said he will “absolutely” ask Putin about Russian meddling when he meets with him face-to-face early next week.
But Trump says he doesn’t expect any breakthroughs on the matter, jokingly referring to the 1950s American drama series, “Perry Mason.”
“I don’t think you’ll have any ‘Gee, I did it, I did it, you got me.’ There won’t be a Perry Mason here,” Trump said at a press conference on Friday in Britain.
— Tess Bonn
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