| <No.664> |
| Trump's Remarks Provide Dose of Reality for Moscow |
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Private intelligence is a thriving business in London.
These are the offices of Orbis Business Intelligence -
a firm that reports say put together the intelligence dossier
that includes tawdry and compromising information
about the incoming U.S. president
that could be used to discredit him.
Mr. Trump, in his first news conference since the election, sought
to dispel any notion
of collusion with or kowtowing to Russia.
"There's no reset button.
We're either gonna get along, or we're not.
I hope we get along,
but if we don't,
that's possible, too."
Analysts see the words as a departure
from what many expected would be a close and warm relationship
between the new U.S. leader and Russia.
"In a sense, there is a bit of a threat
to Mr. Putin as well,
which is, 'You'd better get on with me
because you will know
that I am a much tougher enemy
than anyone else,
if you get on my bad side.'
So, although we've been hearing all this syrupy language towards Putin,
which also has been very welcome in the Kremlin,
I think we saw a slight different side today,
which might just send a few concerns in the Kremlin
about what happens,
should interests diverge."
That is language
that Russia understood.
"It showed a major shift
from what Mr. Trump used to talk about Russia
and how he actually views Russia,
in my perspective.
I don't think that
people in the Kremlin, especially Putin, do not understand this,
and that they were so naive to believe that
Trump will be their friend in the Oval Office."
The allegations
contained in the reported Orbis dossier
have been met with skepticism among observers
and the international intelligence community.
"Most people don't believe them to be true.
I mean, there's a lot of inaccuracies
that have been pointed out about them.
I think the story tells you
more about possibly the nature of the relationship
between Mr. Trump and his own intelligence agencies
right now."
A rift
between the incoming U.S. leader and American intelligence services
is something
that analysts say Vladimir Putin is more likely to be watching now.
Luis Ramirez, VOA News, London |
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