Putin says Trump gave no secrets, offers ‘record’ of meeting
MOSCOW — Asserting himself abroad with his customary disruptive panache, President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday jumped into the furor over President Trump’s disclosure of classified information to Russian diplomats, declaring that nothing secret had been revealed and that he could prove it.
Putin, who has a long record of seizing on foreign crises to make Russia’s voice heard, announced during a news conference in Sochi, Russia, that he has a “record” of the U.S. president’s meeting at the White House with two senior Russian officials and was ready to give it to Congress — so long as Trump does not object.
Referring to reports that Trump had revealed highly classified intelligence, Putin said, “It’s hard to imagine what else these people who generate such nonsense and rubbish can dream up next.”
Putin’s offer to release a record of what was said suggested less an effort to create clarity over what Trump actually said in the Oval Office last Wednesday than a headlinegrabbing assertion of his own authority and a reminder that he should not be ignored.
As with many of Putin’s maneuvers, his offer to release a record of the White House meeting with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and its Washington ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, seemed designed to unnerve and confuse.
For a start, the offer left everyone guessing about what kind of “record” Putin has of his diplomats’ meeting with Trump.
“I think Putin gets personal pleasure from exploiting the vulnerable position Trump has found himself in,” said Valeriy Solovey, a professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. “Putin feels superior, and this flatters him.”
But, he added, the main target of Putin’s intervention was domestic opinion, as has been the case with most moves by the Russian president that baffle and dismay foreigners.
“This was a well-prepared impromptu move,” Solovey said. “The goal is to demonstrate the superiority of the Russian political system, in which major decisions can be made swiftly and effectively.”