TRUST NO ONE - WHY PUTIN IS RIGHT

DONALD Trump had been his usual, confrontational self this week. He had attacked his NATO colleagues for failing to meet their spending targets, abused German Chancellor Angela Merkel for buying Russian gas, embarrassed UK Prime Minister Theresa May over her Brexit strategy, and called the European Union “foes’’ when it came to trade. But standing next to Russian President Vladmir Putin in the presidential palace in the Finnish capital Helsinki, Mr Trump had run out of fire. The disrupter-in-chief, who had so enthusiastically attacked America’s traditional

asked – what was the purpose of the summit, and did Donald Trump get any political benefit out of it? His vehement denials about collusion overshadowed any serious questions about Russian meddling. He seemed unable to separate the two. As Mr Putin himself said yesterday: “As to who is to be believed and to who is not to be believed, you can trust no one.” for the poor relations between them. Mr Putin on the other hand gave no ground. He did not agree to extradite any of the 12 Russian spies accused of meddling in the 2016 election. He pointedly mentioned reciprocal arrangements for US intelligence figures operating unlawfully in Russia. No progress was made on reducing nuclear weapons. So the question has to be allies, had no criticisms of the traditional enemy, Russia. He accepted Mr Putin’s “strong and powerful’’ denials of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. This meant he had to choose a version of events – Putin’s, or the US intelligence agencies. He chose Putin’s, saying “I don’t see any reason why’’ the Russians were to blame for the hacking. He apportioned equal blame to both countries