WASHINGTON, March 28. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump is determined to normalize relations with Russia and he is moving rapidly, so Europe will have to put up with Washington’s new policy and stop attempts to block it, Graham Fuller, former vice chairman of the US National Intelligence Council, said in an interview with TASS.
"I'm perhaps as surprised as you are that Trump has moved so rapidly and with such determination to try to normalize Russian relations. <...> I have lots of criticisms of Trump on lots of issues, but on this issue, I think he's very serious. I think he's going about it in the right way. <...> So in short, I'm optimistic. There's a long way to go, but the initial steps are good. They're slow. They have to be, they should be. But it's in the right direction," said Fuller, who used to serve as a CIA operations officer in Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Hong Kong, and also as a CIA Kabul station chief. He served in the intelligence community and worked for the US Department of State for a total of about 27 years.
"I tend to feel that America has been driven by extraordinary Russophobia. <...> And I trace that Russophobia, indeed, even more seriously, back to the UK, to England, which I think holds the world class mastercraft in Russophobia, going back several hundred years. And Washington, unfortunately, has largely absorbed that message. And I think we can even see today the UK still trying to sabotage any efforts at normalization within Europe," Fuller, who largely engaged in teaching and research activities after leaving public service, pointed out.
According to him, "it looks like there is seriousness on both sides (Russia and the US - TASS)." "I don't see any one or the other side trying to score cheap propaganda points off the other. It seems to be in very good faith so far," the expert pointed out. "I am encouraged to hear [US Special Presidential Envoy] Steve Witkoff say that he has a good feel for his personal relations and chemistry with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, which is very important in the end," the expert stressed.
"So far, it looks like they have not hit any serious roadblocks. There will be much more serious and complex questions coming up, indeed. But you have to start with the easier ones, establishing the rhythm of the negotiations and establishing the chemistries among the parties," the ex-US intel official observed.
He also expressed confidence that in foreign policy, Trump "has a very good feel for the issues." "I think that's why he chose a guy like Steve Witkoff, who also seems to have a good feel. And feel is important," the analyst noted. In his view, Witkoff is "a very skillful diplomat," even though career diplomats are critical of his lack of experience. "That's nonsense. To me, he shows all the skills of a diplomat," Fuller remarked.
‘Wishful thinking’
Commenting on disagreements between the US and Europe over dialogue on Ukraine with Russia, Fuller confirmed that in his opinion, Europe would "try to block this, thwart it, stymie the progress." "But frankly, I think this is mainly rhetoric. I think it's wishful thinking. I think it's unrealistic. Europe has no military skills to speak of, no military itself to speak of. <...> So I frankly think they're going to have to face reality within the coming weeks and months and reconsider that whole thing," the former intel official predicted.
In this regard, he did not rule out that Europe would also move towards normalizing relations with Russia in the foreseeable future. "Europe just might want to think about a possible shift to relations with Russia after this long unfinished business of the Cold War," Fuller said.
"There are really only two options in front of Europe, assuming that Trump can work through his agenda with Moscow in Ukraine. Assuming that, I think the rest of Europe has no option. It cannot go independently of Washington. And the cost would be very high economically, if not ruin. It's already been a ruinous war [for the economies of a number of countries]. It's ironic that the two countries that have suffered the most <...> have been Ukraine, first and foremost, but secondly, the Western Europe in terms of its economies in many ways, and particularly Germany. So I think smarter heads in Europe will realize that this simply cannot go on, and that this break that Washington has provoked in NATO relations may be the beginning of a new era of rethinking security relations and rethinking just how much Russia represents a security threat to Western Europe," Fuller went on to say.
"<...> I have to believe that Europe will ultimately prove sensible, but it's going to be a very rough transition, let us say," he added.
When asked if a new security infrastructure could be established in Europe given the current developments in Russia-US relations, the expert answered in the affirmative. "I think it would come very late in the game when there is a redrawing of European security architecture that I hope will come at the end of this long process," he specified.
Image problems
In addition, Fuller assumed that even though serious experts in the US and Europe understood the reasons behind the conflict in Ukraine, Russia would still have to fight for the hearts and minds of people and work to restore its reputation in the West.
"Let me start off by saying I tend to blame NATO and the United States for having provoked this war," the ex-intel official said. He admitted that it was Moscow that started a special military operation. "But I blame NATO and the United States for gross provocation, for having pushed NATO right up to the very borders of Russia against warnings by Russian diplomats, including Putin himself, for many, many years that these were red lines for Russia. So I have no doubt about that. I think most of the West is in denial, or wants to maintain this propaganda line that it was unprovoked. But of course, it was provoked, and serious observers of Russia know that in the West. But I would say that Russia also now needs to consider very much its own image problems in the West. I can blame some of this on unrelenting British propaganda, British-inspired propaganda, American propaganda, all the legacies of the Cold War. But nonetheless, Russia itself must bear some burden for helping overcome this ugly legacy," the analyst noted.