US officials argue over Trump's praise of Russia
(Baonghean.vn) - In the context of the government having just received a plane providing medical equipment from the Russian Air Force to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic, US officials have expressed conflicting views. On the contrary, President Donald Trump highly appreciated and affirmed that Russia provided many high-quality medical equipment that could save many lives.
 |
| US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Getty |
A Russian Air Force An-124 Ruslan aircraft landed in New York City on Wednesday, carrying a large number of essential medical supplies such as masks, disinfectants, ventilators, etc. to support the US in dealing with the increasingly serious Covid-19 epidemic. In the latest statement at the White House press conference on the Covid-19 epidemic, US President Donald Trump said that Russia has provided a lot of high-quality medical equipment that can save many patients and that,“This is a very nice gesture.”!"...
Responding to a reporter's question about whether this was a Russian propaganda campaign, President Trump said that he“don't care even a little bit”.
It should be recalled that the Russian cargo flight was said to be the result of a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. The aid was sent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in New York City, USA.
For her part, commenting on the shipment of medical equipment from Russia, US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said,“The two countries have agreed to support each other during the current crisis and will certainly continue to do so in the future.”". And that,“It is time to work together to defeat the common enemy that threatens the lives of all people”To date, the US is still the country most severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic with more than 245,000 infections and more than 6,000 deaths.
However, in their statement, according to CNN, neither President Trump nor the State Department representative specifically mentioned whether these were goods donated by Russia or equipment purchased by the US. Meanwhile, on the Russian side, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that half of these goods were paid for by the Russian Direct Investment Fund and half by the US.
Faced with somewhat unclear information from the administration, former US officials said that President Trump is afraid of facing a backlash when giving any justification for allowing Russia to become a reliable source of supply during the current serious epidemic period. CNN quoted former US officials as saying that,“It is difficult to understand why they (the government) are not clear, it is not difficult to explain and provide specific information on this issue.”Former diplomat Brett McGurk said the Russian shipment was a humanitarian gesture and propaganda about the country's foreign policy.
Although Graham Brookie, director of the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Institute, told CNN that they are seeing positive messages of support from Russia; another former official commented that if there continue to be more such aid flights,“It is not difficult for public opinion to realize that the US is dependent on Russia.”
From another perspective, Andrew Weiss, Vice President of the Russia and Eurasia Studies Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that the move to support the US is aimed at Russia's broader and longer-term foreign policy goals./.
