Advertisement

Putin willing to hand over transcript of meeting between Trump and Russian officials

Vladimir Putin says he is willing to hand over a transcript of a discussion between Donald Trump ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

13.58 17 May 2017


Share this article


Putin willing to hand over tra...

Putin willing to hand over transcript of meeting between Trump and Russian officials

Newstalk
Newstalk

13.58 17 May 2017


Share this article


Vladimir Putin says he is willing to hand over a transcript of a discussion between Donald Trump and senior Russian officials to US Congress.

President Trump allegedly disclosed highly classified information about "terrorism and airline flight safety" while meeting foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and ambassador Sergey Kislyak last week.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Mr Trump did not pass over secrets and dismissed the scandal as "political schizophrenia".

Advertisement

He added that he was "concerned because it's hard to imagine what the people who produce such nonsense can come up with next."

Mr Putin said: "What surprises me is that they are shaking up the domestic political situation using anti-Russian slogans.

"Either they don't understand the damage they're doing to their own country, in which case they are simply stupid, or they understand everything, in which case they are dangerous and corrupt."

On Tuesday, national security adviser General HR McMaster said the intelligence sharing was "wholly appropriate" and based on "open source reporting".

Despite reports Mr Trump shared the information in a way that would have allowed the Russians to work out its origin, General McMaster asserted the President "in no way compromised any sources".

He said: "The President wasn't even aware of where this information came from - he wasn't even briefed on the source or method of this information either."

There is no suggestion Mr Trump committed a crime as he has the authority to disclose even the most highly classified information at will.

However, he has been accused of acting unwisely and jeopardising long-standing intelligence-sharing agreements by sharing information without consulting the ally that provided it.

Mr Trump did not deny the report in a pair of Twitter posts on Tuesday, instead insisting he had the 'absolute right' to share the information.

Meanwhile, reports have claimed that Mr Trump asked then-FBI director James Comey to drop an investigation into ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn and his ties to Moscow.


Share this article


Read more about

News

Most Popular