One of the bonuses of a Trump presidency – of which there will be many negatives – is the prospect of a distinct lowering of temperature in relations between Russia and the West. Now, it seems that Vladimir Putin is destined to have a friend in Western Europe, too. The new favourite for next year’s French presidential election, Francois Fillon, is just as keen on forging relations with the Russian president. Asked recently whether he worried about Trump’s closeness to Putin he replied: ‘I don’t only not worry about it, I wish for it.’ He went on to demand that Russia be treated as ‘a great nation’ and not made a pariah over its annexation of the Crimea.
Putin has returned the compliment, calling Fillon an ‘upstanding person’. If I were a westward-looking Ukrainian marooned in the Crimea, or a resident of Aleppo being bombed by Russian airstrikes, I am sure that I would not welcome the new détente between Putin and the West.
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