Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on winning the US election, and expressed admiration for the way Trump reacted to an assassination attempt during the campaign. He also said he was ready for dialogue with Trump, a prospect which will cause disquiet in Kyiv and many other European capitals.
Putin gave his first public remarks on Trump’s win on Thursday evening during a discussion forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. His words seemed calibrated to appeal to the president-elect’s well-documented fondness for flattery.
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Putin also claimed Trump had been “hounded by all sides” during the campaign, another line that is likely to resonate well with Trump, and offered his congratulations on the victory. He highlighted Trump’s remarks on Ukraine and Russia. “What was said about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to bring about the end of the Ukrainian crisis in my opinion this deserves attention at least,” said Putin.
So funny you mentioned this…I actually did a paper twenty year ago in college about the fall of Russia and the truth is, the CIA was using (I think the term is) " Black Propaganda" to inform themselves. Black Propaganda was essentially incorrect old disinformation distributed by the CIA.
They were caught with their pants down in many ways. They may have aided at the end but the CIA was much more off guard than one would think.
Edit: my sources were literally declassified documents the CIA released. I got them from the college library. I’m sure libraries will be next to be gone