Russia missing from Trump's defence priorities memo

By bne IntelliNews December 21, 2016

The word Russia was missing from memo outlining US president-elect's defence priorities when he takes up office in January. Previously the Obama had listed Russia as the  “main threat to the US,” according to a report by Foreign Policy. 

Among the security challenges the US faces are IS, budget caps and improving efficiency, but Russia did not feature anywhere in the memo. 

“People there now would be pretty concerned to see Russia not on the list,” said Evelyn Farkas, a former senior Pentagon official who worked on Russia policy before leaving in 2015, cited by FP. 

The memo highlights the fight against Islamic State (IS) and containing China and North Korea as foreign policy priorities.

Previously the US military named Russia as the leading global threat, a stance also taken by presidential candidate Mitt Romney who Trump entertained briefly as a possible US Secretary of State. Instead Rex Tillerman was chosen, the former CEO of ExxonMobil, who has extensive experience of working in Russia and knows president Vladimir Putin personally.

 

Read in IntelliNews Pro
Get IntelliNews Pro

Related Articles

Uzbekistan says something concrete yet to emerge from nuclear plant construction talks with Russia

Nothing concrete has yet emerged from Uzbekistan and Russia’s talks on constructing the Central Asian country’s first nuclear power plant (NPP), according to a briefing from Uzbekistan’s First ... more

The price cap on Russian oil is becoming increasingly unenforceable, says Mutual Insurance Club

The price cap on Russian oil is becoming increasingly unenforceable, said the International Group of P&I Clubs, or so-called Mutual Insurance Clubs, according to reports on May 3. About 800 ... more

Russia’s Sberbank (Sber) posts $4.3bn IFRS net profit in 1Q24

Russia’s largest lender state-controlled Sberbank (Sber) posted an 11.3% year on year increase in IFRS net profit to RUB397bn ($4.3bn) in 1Q24. As followed by bne IntelliNews, in 2023 ... more

Follow Us On

Most Read

  1. Shocking trial of ex-minister has shifted domestic violence attitudes in Kazakhstan, says brother
    4 days ago
  2. Cheap Russian drones overwhelm US-made Abrams tanks, taken out of action
    10 days ago
  3. COMMENT: Aliyev continues to block the chance of peace in the South Caucasus
    7 days ago
  4. RAGOZIN: Exhausting Russia, strategies and fantasies
    3 days ago
  5. Russia is producing weapons at a record pace, and Ukraine’s partners are trying to increase support for Kyiv
    5 days ago
  1. Albanians campaign on social media to keep bus bridge created in freak accident
    2 years ago
  2. Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for Neom city
    26 days ago
  3. Iran vs Israel: Who is better equipped for war?
    23 days ago
  4. Leading emerging markets move rapidly up World Bank’s PPP GDP and FDI confidence rankings
    27 days ago
  5. Oil continues to flow to Israel via Turkey despite Erdogan’s vehement speeches on plight of Gaza
    6 months ago

Reports

Dismiss