London fears losing 'market' and 'influence' if Trump makes 'peace' with 'boogeyman' Russia
Published time: 1 Jul, 2018 13:40
The UK establishment is alarmed by a "peace deal" that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump may reach at their upcoming meeting. London has used Moscow as a "boogeyman" to preserve its fading influence in Europe, experts told RT.
After the time and date of the meeting – that is, Helsinki, Finland on June 16 – was set this week, the Times laid out a piece conveying the fears of unnamed cabinet ministers that a "peace deal" will undermine NATO and compromise European security.
Ideas of "what can go wrong" ranged from the cancelation or downsizing of NATO drills in Eastern Europe to acknowledging Crimea as Russian territory and lifting sanctions against Moscow. One minister even predicted "further provocation by Moscow."
Clear and present danger of "losing market"
"The UK has been one of the most active supporters of a hard line towards Russia," and the "vigorous resistance" of its ruling circles to any positive shift in the stance of Washington towards Moscow shouldn't be surprising, Alexander Bartosh, a military expert and former Russian diplomat, told RT.
"The UK, which quit the European Union, feels a certain loss of its weight in Europe and tries to turn Russia into a kind of boogeyman, seeing the 'Russian threat' as a unifying factor for nations, looking for closer ties with London," he said.
British historian and author on international affairs John Laughland believes that "in the context of Brexit, Britain wants to talk up the Russian threat in order to be able to sell British military expertise, military capacity, and intelligence gathering expertise to the Europeans.
"The British are afraid [because] if the Russian threat is perceived to disappear they lose their market."
There are all grounds for London to worry because "the common belief that America and Britain are such great friends isn't really justified, as there are many in the US who support tougher and more pragmatic relations with the UK. The Americans don't want to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for Britain as they used to do previously," Bartosh said.
https://www.rt.com/news/431403-putin-trump-uk-nato/