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Trump placating UK over sanctions against Russia: Analyst

Saturday, 28 January 2017 5:52 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 28 January 2017 5:52 PM ]

British Prime Minister Theresa May and US President Donald Trump speak during a press conference at the White House January 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted that Western sanctions against Russia should continue, playing down talks of a possible thaw in the West’s relations with Moscow under US President Donald Trump.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Trump on Friday at the White House, May said the sanctions, which have been imposed against Russia for its alleged role in the Ukraine conflict, would continue until Moscow fully implements the Minsk agreement.

Trump’s presidency raised hopes for closer ties between Moscow and Washington, given the fact that the Republican president had shown great willingness to work with the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During the press briefing on Wednesday Trump was asked whether he would lift the sanctions, he said it was “very early” to address the issue. However, he said he hoped to have a "fantastic relationship" with Putin.

A former American intelligence linguist believes Donald Trump is obviously placating the United Kingdom, adding that Washington will “likely follow suit” with London and maintain its sanctions against Russia.

“Unfortunately the European Union just reinstated the sanctions against Russia last month and at the same time obviously the United Kingdom as Theresa May was saying was bolstering or supporting those same sanctions. So obviously the United States will likely follow suit with the UK because of the special arrangement in the meantime,” Scott Rickard told Press TV in an interview on Sunday.

However, he said, in the long-term these sanctions will be lifted due to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser Lt. General Mike Flynn’s relationships with Russia.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the analyst argued every single president that enters the Oval Office ends up in “lockstep” with their predecessors.

He also opined that Trump has already participated in the war crimes of the United States government by not halting the attacks on Yemen, Syria and Iraq.

Rickard further noted Donald Trump and Theresa May’s support for going after “Islamic terrorism” will keep the “floodgates” open and there will be not be much of a change in the status quo.

He also stated Trump had a lot of rhetoric about defunding NATO, but at the end of the day it is obvious that the European Union cannot afford the tremendous amounts of cost that warfare is imposing on their governments and their people.

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