At President Trump’s directive, the U.S. is expelling 60 Russian intelligence officers (read: spies) and has ordered the Russian government to close its consulate in Seattle.
The move comes in retaliation for the alleged attempt of the Russian government to murder, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who now lives in the United Kingdom.
President Trump, who has been accused of being much too comfortable with the Kremlin, proved his real thoughts about Russia by siding with European allies he has previously chided for their lack of resolve.
Gavin Williamson, the UK Defense Secretary, said the backing for Britain was in “itself a defeat for President Putin”. He said:
The world’s patience is rather wearing thin with President Putin and his actions, and the fact that right across the NATO alliance, right across the European Union, nations have stood up in support of the United Kingdom … I actually think that is the very best response that we could have.
Speaking to the House of Commons, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May showed her previously strained relations with the President had been overcome by his resolve. She said:
This is the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history … If the Kremlin’s goal is to divide and intimidate the Western alliance, then their efforts have spectacularly backfired.
A few sources made veiled attempts to use Trump’s actions to call attention to Robert Mueller’s investigation but even Michael McFaul, President Barack Obama’s former ambassador to Moscow found not fault in Trump’s actions, telling Bloomberg Radio:
The Trump administration took the right move here in response to an outrageous act … I think this response is a strong one. That sends a powerful signal that our alliance system matters to us in Europe and that’s a united front we need against Putin right now.
At the center of the episode is Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double-agent who was convicted of passing the identities of Russian agents working undercover in Europe to the British foreign intelligence service, MI6.
When Skripal confessed to working for MI6 in 2006, Russia jailed him for treason. He admitted that he has sold the names, addresses and code names of dozens of Russian agents to MI6 over the course of ten years. He was freed in 2010 as a part of a Russian – U.S. spy swap after which he moved to Great Britain. His daughter, Yulia, who lives in Russia, appears to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time when she and her father were poisoned.
Shades of the old Cold War burst into full view as the Kremlin adamantly denied the accusation that it was involved in the assassination attempt. Dimitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, told reporters that Skripal’s case was a “tragic situation” that Russian had no information as to who the culprit is. Peskov said, “Moscow is always ready to cooperate.”
American-born businessman, Bill Browder, has clashed with Putin for years and has become one of Putin’s most high-profile public enemies. He told USA TODAY that he is certain the attack on the Skripals’ was ordered by Russia to “send a message … that if you are disloyal and betray the country it doesn’t matter when you did it, and it doesn’t matter where you flee to, we’ll come and get you and kill your family, too.”
Apparently, President Trump agreed and was quick to take action against Putin’s government. A senior administration official said that all 60 of the expelled officials are in the U.S. posing as diplomats, 48 at the Russian embassy and 12 at the Russian mission to the United Nations. They and their families will have seven days to leave the U.S.
Donald Tusk, European Union chief said Monday that all 14 member-nations of the EU would expel Russian diplomatic staff due to the Skripals’ poisoning. France, Poland, Germany, and Lithuania have already taken that action.
The Guardian had previously shown its progressive colors by doubting President Trump’s loyalties by writing:
The US state department is also expected to take action, but the temperament of Donald Trump and his desire not alienate his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, makes the scale of any US punitive action unpredictable. Russia promised it would take reciprocal action against Washington.
How long it will take for President Trump be given credit for being a world leader is yet to be seen. After his tariffs on China and tough actions against Russia.
~ American Liberty Report
