Q&A: Trump’s failed diplomacy and a coup in the Kremlin? With Matt Frei
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Oh This is a global production.
Trump can't just do diplomacy based on a few phone calls with Putin that he then says goes very well.
The question is, will the Russians listen this time? Imagine if Putin continues with this war. There's I cannot imagine that if he hasn't managed to roll from the Donbass to Kyiv, he's gonna do it now. He has not been to Kiev once. Not once.
As close as Jared Kushner and Stephen Witkoff are to Trump, there is no substitute for
actual diplomacy. In the ten years of a disastrous Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, they lost fourteen thousand men. They've lost, you know, a hundred times as many in something that's lasted half as long. I mean this is a disaster.
Hello, everyone. It is that time of the week, the QA episode of the X-Files with me and usually Jamie Rubin, but he's still on holiday until next week. So this week, our special guest, Matt Fry, presenter and Europe editor on Channel 4, and also presenter on his own LBC program. So hi Matt, and let's get started with the questions this week. So I'm going to ask you the first one. This is from Ben. On Instagram. What do you think we should make of the CIA director's recent visit to Moscow? Do you believe Putin could be genuinely considering an attack on a NATO country? We discussed it a little bit in the main episode, but I think it's worth talking about again because it's very unusual to send the spy chief.
You know, it means, as some have said, that actually diplomacy has failed and now emergency interventions. are being are being made.
So a couple of things on that one. It's a really, really good question, uh, Ben. And I think first of all, I'm I was deeply alarmed when I read this because there was a similar visit by the then head of the CIA to Moscow just before the full scale Ukraine invasion at the end of twenty twenty one. And that didn't go so well. And we know from that particular visit that the then head of the CIA basically warned the Kremlin You know, don't go any further. You know, we've got intelligence that you're trying to invade Ukraine. Don't do this, and they did it anyway. So, although we don't know anything for certain, it is quite possible and plausible that again, you know, the th the the CI the today's CIA chief went to Moscow to say to uh the Russians, if you're thinking of an a a visible incursion.
Into NATO territory, let's say in one of the Baltic Republics, remember that NATO is still there, it is still functioning, you know, and there will be pushback. Now, the reason why they need to say that is first of all because the Russians have been nibbling away at NATO territory, you know, with cyber attacks, you know, with cutting undersea cables for quite a long time now. They've been provoking NATO, you know, drone incursions into Poland. Or into Romania. This has happened. on quite an alarming scale for years now. But what they may be worried about i is that they'll try and do something more, maybe involving tanks actually rolling across a border, trying to test NATO's resolve. And of course Donald Trump, uh the president, has given, you know, Russian optimists and and Kremlin some hope that NATO might not hold together.
And if you talk to Baltic leaders and you ask them this question, do you think the American president will intervene on your behalf militarily if the Russians invade? In other words, invoking, you know, Article 5 of the NATO treaty, They will tell you we're not so sure. And of course the Russians know this, so it's quite possible that at a time when Donald Trump is losing a war that he started in Iran, is militarily exposed because you know, they're running out of ammunition, et cetera, et cetera, Europe is in some flux at the moment. that they will the Russians will try and do this, especially because they seem to be actually for the first time losing the war that they started in Ukraine in twenty twenty two.
So I think this is a very dangerous moment. The question is, will the Russians listen this time or not? Uh and uh well and the main question is what did he actually say to them?
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–5:56
2
What does Matt Frei think about the CIA director’s recent visit to Moscow and its warning to Putin?
5:56–12:30
3
Is Putin likely to test NATO in the Baltics, and how credible is the threat of a Russian incursion?
12:30–17:49
4
Will European leaders count on Trump to defend NATO members if Russia attacks?
17:49–27:03
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files
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