Trump ‘failed to condemn poisoning in call with Putin’

DONALD TRUMP was explicitly told to condemn the Salisbury spy poisoning in a memo for his call with Vladimir Putin, but failed to do so according to The Washington Post.

The US president’s briefing materials also had the words “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” in capital letters, but Mr Trump instead did just that to Mr Putin over his election victory.

The disclosures call into question Mr Trump’s willingness to join Britain in a tough stance over the Sergei Skripal poisoning. The leak was said to have infuriated the president and triggered a search for the culprit.

Mr Putin recently won re-election with 76 per cent of the vote, amid claims of ballot stuffing. So, he will remain Russian president until 2024.

Mr Trump revealed details of his call with Mr Putin on Tuesday as he answered questions from reporters in the White House. “I had a call with President Putin and congratulated him on his electoral victory,” Mr Trump said.

The White House later confirmed that Mr Trump did not discuss the Salisbury poisoning with Mr Putin or bring up claims of ballot-stuffing in the Russian election.

Yesterday, the White House tried to make amends, briefing that Mr Trump discussed holding Russia to account in a call with Emmanuel Macron, the French president.

A spokesman said both men “reiterated their solidarity with the UK, in the wake of Russia’s use of chemical weapons against private citizens on British soil, and agreed on the need to take action to hold Russia accountable”.