Pompeo insists he raised Taliban ‘rewards’ on US troops with Russia despite Trump’s failure to do so

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured lawmakers on Thursday that the Trump administration has clashed with top Russian diplomats and military officials over alleged rewards Russia has offered to Taliban-linked rebels for killing US troops in Afghanistan. , despite the fact that Donald Trump has refused to raise the issue. with his counterpart Vladimir Putin.

“I can assure you and the American people that every time I have spoken to [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov, I have raised all the issues that put American interests at risk, be it our soldiers on the ground in Syria, the soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan, the activities taking place in Libya, the actions in Ukraine, “said Mr Pompeo testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Each and every one of these [issues] that potentially threaten American interests are things that I raise in my conversations with Foreign Minister Lavrov, and I speak to him with some frequency, “he said.

Trump said earlier this week that he “has never discussed” reports of alleged Russian rewards of US troops in Afghanistan with Vladimir Putin, despite having spoken to the Russian president on at least eight occasions since the information was included in his daily report.

In February, the President’s daily written report included an intelligence report that Russia may have been awarding rewards to US troop leaders, with payments of up to $ 100,000, the New York Times has reported.

When Axios He asked Trump this week if he had raised the issue in his last phone call with Putin, he said no.

“That was a phone call to discuss other things, and frankly, that’s an issue that a lot of people said was fake news,” Trump said.

Then he added: “I’ve never discussed it with him, no.”

Pompeo would not criticize Trump for neglecting to bring the matter up with Putin, saying he “would leave the president what he wants to say to other leaders.”

The secretary declined to provide details about his conversations with Mr. Lavrov, citing national security concerns and the need to protect classified information. But he assured skeptical Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations panel, that he was far from the only US official to challenge his Russian counterpart on the alleged Taliban bounty plan, which Trump has repeatedly downplayed as “fake news.” ” prepared by Democrats to hamper his chances for reelection this November.

Make no mistake about it, the right people have been aware of every threat to our soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan, be it [General Austin S] Miller, or my team at the embassy there in Kabul, “Pompeo said, referring to the American general in charge of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

“Whenever there was a tactical threat to lives or health and safety or our assets in place, we have raised this with our Russian counterparts. Not only at my level, but [US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan], and everyone on our team that interacts with the Russians. We have made our expectations very clear, “said Pompeo.

The secretary said Thursday that the Trump administration has historically been adamant in its resistance to Russian foreign policy and military aggression.

“We are the harshest administration in Russia,” he said, adding that the United States “will not tolerate disinformation and propaganda led by the Kremlin or other adversaries.”

But only this week in his interview with AxiosTrump mourned a Kremlin propaganda issue that Russia wanted nothing to do with Afghanistan after its war there in the 1980s paralyzed the former Soviet Union, leading to its demise.

“Russia used to be a thing called the Soviet Union. Because of Afghanistan, they filed for bankruptcy. They became Russia, so they understand it,” Trump said.

“The last thing Russia wants is to get too involved with Afghanistan,” he said, despite the alleged rewards plan and the fact that Russia has actively supplied weapons to American enemies in Afghanistan.