Does Russia have to pay attention to Donald Trump's recent remarks about the need to return the Crimea to Ukraine? When is the new US administration going to develop real politics? What were the reasons behind the resignation of Michael Flynn? Pravda.Ru asked these questions to military expert, former head of Israeli intelligence service Nativ, Yakov Kedmi.
"What do you think about the recent statement from Donald Trump, who said that Russia seized the Crimea, that the line of the Obama administration was too soft at this point? Earlier, during the presidential campaign, Trump said that one should recognise the Crimea as Russia."
"Trump is still busy with building his team, so the process to develop a new approach and policy still continues. When the team is finally formed, we will see what approach the USA takes on major issues, and what policy it develops. The statements from President Trump do not reflect any political view at the moment - they are just a reaction to a question from a journalist. The new US administration will develop its policy in relation to Russia as soon as the Trump team is finally formed.
"For the time being, the general direction of Trump's policy remains as it was. He wants to end confrontation with Russia and exclude Russia from the list of enemies of the Untied States. This is the basic and most important thing, whereas everything else is purely technical."
"Michael Flynn was fired under strange circumstances. How did it happen?"
"There was nothing special about his resignation. Journalists, as usual, tend to make a mountain out of a molehill. The information that Flynn provided to the US Vice-President proved to be incorrect and inaccurate. The Vice President told a lie on the basis on that information, which is absolutely unacceptable. A person, who makes top officials - president and vice president - tell lies on the basis of his information can not serve on his position. Everything else is pure speculation.
"Yet, there are many people in the US establishment, who want to get rid of Trump and change the results of the US presidential election. They do their best to make him stumble. Yet, the fact remains: the FBI provided a report about the conversation that Michael Flynn had had, and the content of the conversation did not correspond to the information that Flynn then provided to vice president and president. Someone leaked it to the media, and the story exploded.
"US officials and government leaders often lie. The war in Vietnam began with a lie and continued on the basis of lies. Everyone was lying: the CIA, the military intelligence of the navy, the US Secretary of Defense, the President and the Defence Secretary were lying to Congress and the Senate.
"This is the political culture in the United States. Kissinger used to urge the Vietnamese not to start negotiations for another three weeks, not to help Nixon's rival at the elections. Flynn made a professional mistake that is unforgivable."
"Does this mean that Trump is working in a social environment, where he is not allowed to make one single mistake?"
"Trump does work under unusual conditions. The new president must replace 1,500 state officials. He works in an environment where the entire apparatus works against him. Well, if he wanted to become President of the United States of America, he will have to deal with it. If he works in the right direction, he will be able to handle all this. He must not make any decision that he will have to change afterwards. A lot will depend on his qualities and on his team."
Interview conducted by Inna Novikova
Pravda.Ru
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