Putin Slams “Pathetic Cabal” Undermining Russian-American Relations In ‘Off-Script’ Remarks

After the Trump-Putin Helsinki summit sent the ‘Russiagate’ McCarthyite commentariat into overdrive this week, Russian President Putin directly addressed the current climate of fevered and fear-driven Western media panic in what he introduced as “off-script” and “personal remarks” at an official event in Moscow. 

As we noted on the heels of Monday’s events, it’s become clear that U.S. politics is reaching a breaking point as the level of hysteria over Donald Trump’s summit with Vladimir Putin is wholly disproportionate to what actually occurred.

And now Time magazine has unveiled its new cover which involves Trump and Putin morphed into the same person, and CNN is already gushing: 

In it, Trump’s distinctive blonde hair, wispy eyebrows and pursed lips merge with Putin’s nose and blue eyes. The stunning photo illustration, by visual artist Nancy Burson, “is meant to represent this particular moment in US foreign policy, following the pair’s recent meeting in Helsinki, Finland,” Time said in a statement.

“Time” has released its latest cover, featuring what @JohnAvlon calls an “extraordinary image.”

See the melding of Presidents Trump and Putin here: pic.twitter.com/dguKDNWu1M

— New Day (@NewDay) July 19, 2018

Meanwhile, as Al Masdar News reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin went “off-script” while addressing a meeting of ambassadors and permanent representatives of the Russian Federation at the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Moscow on Thursday, severely criticizing an “anti-Russian cabal” in the United States seeking to undermine Russian-American relations at their own expense.

“Going off script and speaking personally, I’d like to say a few words,” the Russian president said.

“We see that there are forces in the US which are prepared at the drop of a hat to sacrifice Russian-American relations for the sake of their internal political ambitions in America,” he said.

“They are prepared to sacrifice the interests of their own businesses” and “the interests of their allies in Europe and the Middle East,” as well as “their own national security,” Putin said.

Putin goes ‘off-script,’ slams US ‘forces’ undermining Russian-American relations pic.twitter.com/VInqUSlZhR

— Ruptly (@Ruptly) July 19, 2018

“These people are neither despicable or pathetic,” he said referring to famous Russian satirists of the past. “The opposite, they are quite powerful and strong of they can peddle, sorry for my expression, various hard to swallow stories to millions of people,” he concluded.

During his speech, Putin also stressed the need to “develop relations with the European Union” despite current political tensions. He also said that any country looking to try and include Ukraine or Georgia in the NATO sphere of influence “should think of the possible consequences of this irresponsible policy” because Russia would “respond in kind to any aggressive steps that directly threaten Russian.”

The speech comes days after Putin and US President Donald Trump held bilateral talks in Helsinki. Trump has faced harsh criticism back home after appearing to side with Russia instead of the FBI over Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential elections.