HELSINKI: US President Donald Trump branded Russia, the EU and China as «foes» as he prepared on Sunday (Jul 15) to go head to head…
HELSINKI: US President Donald Trump branded Russia, the EU and China as «foes» as he prepared on Sunday (Jul 15) to go head to head with Vladimir Putin at a historic summit shrouded in Moscow’s alleged manipulation of the 2016 US election.
Monday’s summit in Helsinki will offer Putin, a former KGB spymaster, and Trump the chance to get the measure of each other on an array of fronts including Syria, Ukraine, Iran and nuclear disarmament.
Trump flew into Helsinki from Scotland on Sunday after lumping Russia together with the European Union and China as US enemies, in an interview aired on the eve of his first one-on-one summit with the Kremlin boss.
«Now, you wouldn’t think of the European Union but they’re a foe. Russia is a foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly they are a foe. But that doesn’t mean they are bad. It doesn’t mean anything. It means that they are competitive,» he told CBS on Saturday.
He said on Twitter as he left for Helsinki that he was looking forward to the summit with Putin.
But he added: «Unfortunately, no matter how well I do at the Summit, if I was given the great city of Moscow as retribution for all of the sins and evils committed by Russia… over the years, I would return to criticism that it wasn’t good enough — that I should have gotten Saint Petersburg in addition!»
‘MAN-BABY MEETS EVIL SPY’
In Helsinki, more than 2,000 people denounced attacks on human rights, press freedom and dissent as they marched to Helsinki’s central Senate Square.
«Whiny demented man-baby meets evil master spy. What could go wrong?» read one banner.
The crowd repeated a refrain heard at many anti-Trump protests including one that drew tens of thousands to London as the president visited Britain last week: «No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!»
But in Helsinki, which lies close to the Russian border, there was plenty of heat on Putin too.
