A White House boss has revealed that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin “are very good friends” and explained that the two presidents are dedicated to “strengthening” their relationship.
Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, offered an insight into America’s relationship with Russia. She explained that the leaders are focused on building their unison. It comes as the pair are set to discuss the Ukraine war on Tuesday. Trump told reporters ahead of the meeting: “We will see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday.
“I will be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end.” However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to offer details surrounding their discussion and said “we never get ahead of events”.
He added: “The content of conversations between two presidents are not subject to any prior discussion.” Ms Gabbard said ties between Russia and the US go “very far back” and that Trump is committed to expanding a relationship centred “around peace, prosperity, freedom and security”.
She told India’s NDTV: “We have two leaders of two great countries who are very good friends and very focused on how we can strengthen the shared objectives and shared interests.” Her remarks reflect the dramatic shift in US-Russia relations under Trump, who has boasted of his relationship with Putin, blamed Ukraine for Russia’s invasion and taken a hard line against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Under Trump’s administration, the US briefly suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine and has also suspended some offensive cyberoperations against Russia. Ms Gabbard, who oversees the nation’s intelligence services, has in the past echoed Russian propaganda about the war and expressed sympathy for Russia. A veteran, Ms Gabbard became the first Hindu elected to Congress when she served as a representative from Hawaii.
The comments about the friendship between Trump and Putin and the ties between the US and Russia – longtime adversaries – alarmed some critics of Trump’s call for warmer relations with Moscow. In the portions of the interview released by NDTV, Ms Gabbard criticised former president Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Ukraine and said Trump’s push for both sides to agree to a ceasefire comes from an “unwavering commitment to peace”. She continued: “Under the previous administration, there was no effort at all towards peace or direct dialogue with Putin to bring an end to this war. So, in a very short period of time, Trump has made much more progress towards peace than any other previous effort.”
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