The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Trump vows nuclear expansion, gets Christmas greetings from Putin
PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump has stepped away from his typically tempered view of Us-russia relations, vowing to expand America’s nuclear capabilities while warning that the two global powers should restore collaboration so they don’t “have to travel an alternate path”.
Trump’s transition team said Friday that the president-elect received a “very nice letter” from Russian president Vladimir Putin, wishing him “warmest Christmas and New Year greetings” and urging him to act “in a constructive and pragmatic manner” to “restore the framework of bilateral cooperation”. “A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct. I hope both sides are able to live up to these thoughts, and we do not have to travel an alternate path,” CNN quoted Trump as saying in a statement.
The letter, dated December 15, also notes that serious global and regional challenges “show that the relations between Russia and the US remain an important factor in ensuring stability and security in the modern world.’’
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin sent the letter, “voicing hope for an improvement of bilateral ties,” according to the Interfax news agency. Trump’s transition team described the text as an unofficial translation.
Putin said Friday that he sees “nothing unusual” in Trump’s pledge to strengthen the US nuclear forces. Tensions have been mounting between the US and Russia in recent months over accusations by the Obama administration that the Russian government hacked the emails of US citizens and institutions.
Putin Friday addressed the accusations, saying that the Democrats “are humiliating themselves. They must know how to lose with dignity”. “So true!” Trump reacted in a tweet late Friday.
Trump’scommentsarepromptingfearsof a nuclear race in the making. The two countriessignedthenewstarttreatyin2010,cappingthenumberofnuclearwarheadsandmissile launchers each country can possess. The agreement is in effect until 2021. The treaty allowsmodernisationofnucleararsenals,which is different from expansion.
“Putin is smartly playing down the tweet because he has several concessions that he wants to secure from President Trump — lifting of sanctions, support for his war in Syria — and therefore does not want to rock the boat right now by reacting to this vague Trump statement,’’saidmichaelmcfaul,obama’sambassador in Moscow between 2012 and 2014.