[Former MI6 Chief on Whether Trump Could Be a Russian Agent]

On April 5, The Independent of the UK reported that Sir Alex Young, former head of MI6, was asked a sensitive question during an interview on the newspaper's TV program "Dialogue": "Given that Trump has so openly supported Putin, is it possible that he could be working for Russia?"

Young gave a typically British official response: "I mean, who knows? Personally, I don't think he is a Russian agent. I deliberately avoid knowing about this because why would you want to know? So I don't know. In a sense, it's not the point. The point is that his views align with those of Vladimir Putin. He agrees that major powers have extra rights over smaller nations, especially in the surrounding areas of those smaller nations."

Until now, there has never been such a situation where the current or former head of the UK intelligence agency would respond in such a politically ambiguous way when publicly asked whether the US President could be a Russian agent. Similar accusations have been made against Trump before, but there was no evidence.

Rachel Ellenhuis, former permanent representative of the US Department of Defense to NATO and director-general of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, who participated in the same program, stated that although Putin's attempt to redraw the map of Europe poses a threat to European countries, Trump's sudden shift in strategic ideology has exacerbated this threat.

Trump advocates that Europe should pay for its own security; no longer considers the NATO alliance, which has supported Western security for 80 years, useful; threatens to colonize Canada and Greenland; supports Putin's claims over most of at least one-fifth of Ukraine's territory, and agrees that Ukraine "may not even be considered a country."

As an American, Ellenhuis said that while the threat from the Kremlin has always existed, the huge shift in Washington is the biggest strategic shock. Trump's actions have encouraged Putin to take further actions that threaten Europe.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1828622680211468/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.