Putin was ‘frustrated’ by Trump’s inability to grasp policy issues: Fiona Hill
Russian leader Vladimir Putin grew frustrated with Donald Trump's inability to understand foreign policy issues, his former top National Security Council advisor on the country said.
Fiona Hill explained the dynamics during a Tuesday Chicago Council on Global Affairs event.
Business Insider reports, "One of the reasons Putin invaded Ukraine with President Joe Biden in the White House is because he expected the US to 'sue for peace' and thought it would be better to deal with Biden than trying to negotiate with someone like Trump, who the Russian leader had 'to explain everything to all the time," said Hill, who served as the top Russia advisor on the National Security Council under Trump."
Hill currently serves as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
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"He thought that somebody like Biden — who's a Transatlanticist, who knows all about NATO, who actually knows where Ukraine is, and actually knows something about the history, and is very steeped in international affairs — would be the right person to engage with," she explained. "You could see that he got frustrated many times with President Trump because he had to keep explaining things, and Putin doesn't like to do that."
Trump praised Putin prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, 'This is genius,'" Trump told a far-right podcaster. "Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine -- Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful."
"I said, 'How smart is that?'" Trump continued. "And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force… We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy."
Following public pressure, Trump sought to clarify his views in a statement emailed to reporters.
"The Fake News is also saying I called Putin a 'genius,' when actually, and to be precise, I called his build-up on the Ukraine Border before the war started genius because I assumed he would be easily able to negotiate a great deal for Russia," Trump said. "The Fake News said I called him a genius during the war. No, I was describing the great negotiating posture he had prior to the unfortunate decision to enter Ukraine and fight. There was nothing 'genius' about that!"
Watch the speech below or at this link.
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