Kremlin welcomes Trump comments on Russia being 'a war machine' but says it remains clear-eyed
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Kremlin welcomes Trump comments on Russia being 'a war machine' but says it remains clear-eyed
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Friday welcomed Donald Trump's comments on Russia being "a war machine" that had defeated Napoleon and Hitler, but said it was not wearing rose-tinted spectacles when it came to the US Republican presidential candidate.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question about comments Trump said he had made to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a phone call on July 19.
Trump told Fox News later that he had told Zelenskiy that the war needed to be brought to an end.
"This is a war machine you're facing. That's what they (the Russians) do they fight wars. They beat Hitler. They beat Napoleon. We got to get this war over with," said Trump.
Commenting on Trump's remarks, Peskov said: "It will probably be useful for most of the American audience to know that there are many glorious pages in the history of Russia, and indeed, probably few people in the U.S., we mean ordinary Americans, and maybe representatives of the so-called political establishment, know history in such depth."
But Peskov, when asked next about a commentary in the Wall Street Journal co-authored by Mike Pompeo, a former secretary of state under Trump, said the Kremlin was clear-eyed when it came to assessing what a Trump presidency could mean for Russia.
The Pompeo commentary suggested Trump enact tough new sanctions on Moscow if elected and step up help for Ukraine.
