Russian President Vladimir Putin's response to threatened sanctions against him underscores how "irresponsible" Democrats and former FBI Director James Comey have been for trying to use "this Russia thing" to cause political problems for President Donald Trump and his administration, former White House Chief of Staff John Sununu said Monday.
"It just creates a complicated backdrop," Sununu, who served under President George W. Bush, told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program. "It is in that complicated backdrop that President Trump and his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his foreign policy team have to respond."
Putin on Sunday demanded the United States cut its embassy and consulate staff by 755 people. His order came three days after Congress approved sanctions against the country and just hours after Vice President Mike Pence landed in neighboring Estonia.
Putin's action also underscored how important the relationship between Russia and the United States is, said Sununu.
Meanwhile, the two countries have cooperated at times, including in Syria, but it "certainly wasn't very significant in terms of the results that were achieved," said Sununu.
"Russia's failure to deal with North Korea is an important part of the equation," he said. "This is a tough world, an important issue. We have to get out of this climate of politicizing Russia as a political issue with these investigations and get back to putting it on the table as the most important foreign policy issue the president and his administration have to deal with."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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