In turn, Trump has described Vladimir Putin approvingly as a “strong leader” with whom he would have “a very good relationship”. State media promoted the UK’s Brexit campaign and Russian money has gone to the far right in Greece and Hungary. And Carter Page, a Trump foreign policy adviser with a long history of financial ties to the Russian energy giant Gazprom. “It was concerning last week that Donald Trump changed the Republican platform to become what some experts would regard as pro-Russian,” Mook said. Moscow has a long track record of backing rightwing mavericks in Europe from Marine Le Pen in France to Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi.

Source: The Guardian July 25, 2016 17:19 UTC