UK and US accuse Russia of 'interfering in other parts of the globe'

Donald Trump’s Defence Secretary says Russia has been ‘mucking around inside other people’s elections’

Donald Trump’s Defence Secretary has accused Russia of “mucking around in other people’s elections” and violating international law.

General James Mattis made the claim following talks with his British counterpart, who accused Russia of “persistent interference” across the globe as tensions continue to rise between the Kremlin and the West.

Sir Michael Fallon said there “cannot be any return to business as usual” with Russia if the behaviour continues.

“There’s a pattern of interference now by Russia in different parts of the globe that needs us to be – when we engage with Russia – wary of what Russia is up to,” he told a press conference.

“We need to be extremely watchful of this persistent pattern of Russian interference.”

Sir Michael said Britain would continue to work with Russia to avoid conflict in Syria, where Vladimir Putin’s forces are waging a bombing campaign in support of Bashar al-Assad while the US-led coalition supports anti-Isis opposition forces with air strikes.

General Mattis, who fought in the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq before being picked for his role in the Trump administration, said he was “concerned” about Russian activity in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

“We look to engaging with Russia on a political or diplomatic level but right now, Russia is choosing to be a strategic competitor and we’re finding that we can only have very modest expectations of the areas where we can cooperate,” he said.

“It’s no longer a cooperative engagement with them.”

General Mattis said the US was attempting to diplomatically carve out room for manoeuvre so “Russia can change its behaviour and act in accordance with international norms and international law”.

“Russia’s violations of international law are now a matter of record, from what happened with Crimea to other aspects of their behaviour in mucking around inside other people’s elections,” he added.

His statements were in stark contrast to those made by Mr Trump, who publicly discredited a report by his own intelligence agencies that found Russia had interfered to turn the US election in his favour.

The President has also drawn criticism for making complimentary remarks about Mr Putin during his election campaign and the transition period.

Investigations continue into Russia’s alleged interference in the US election, which the Kremlin denies, as well as accusations of meddling ahead of the votes in Germany and France.

Tensions have been rising over Russia’s backing for President Assad in Syria, the Ukrainian war and a military build-up in competition with Nato.

Both Sir Michael and General Mattis issued a challenge for members of the military alliance to commit themselves to year-on-year increases in defence spending, calling for “fairer burden sharing” in the military alliance.

Nato has been building up forces in Estonia to deter Russian aggression (PA)

It came as reports suggested the Royal Marines may face cuts in response to a £10bn funding shortfall faced by the Ministry of Defence over the coming decade.

Sir Michael declined to rule out a cut in the elite commando units, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that while he had not agreed any reduction in the size of the Royal Marines, numbers were kept “under review”.

But in his conference with General Mattis at Lancaster House, he stressed Britain’s military budget was growing every year and remains the largest among European Nato states.

The UK and US are among just five of the alliance’s 28 members to meet a target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

Mr Trump has repeatedly raised the issue, appearing to threaten the withdrawal of US funding after tense talks with Angela Merkel earlier this month.

Responding to previous allegations by Sir Fallon that Russia’s behaviour was becoming more “assertive and arrogant”, the Russian embassy in London dismissed his remarks as a “string of unfounded accusations”.

“Russia is an independent and sovereign state pursuing its national interest as defined by ourselves,” a spokesperson said, claiming that it was “clearing up the mess” made by Western states in Syria, Libya and Afghanistan.

Analysis by Kim Sengupta

The question was about Russia and Afghanistan --- James Mattis, unprompted, included in his answer the assertion that the Kremlin has interfered in democratic elections.

In his first visit to the UK since becoming Donald Trump’s Defence Secretary, Gen Mattis was gracious in talking about the special relationship, shared values, and this country’s supposed global role. He was careful to avoid talking about Brexit and looked mildly puzzled when, standing beside him, his British counterpart Sir Michael Fallon tried to maintain, with no great conviction, that Theresa May had not threatened to use security cooperation as a bargaining counter for a trade deal with the European Union.

But Gen Mattis was keen to talk about Russia. There will be no “return to business as usual" with Vladimir Putin’s government which “right now is choosing to be a strategic competitor” and “Russia’s violation of international law are now a matter of record”. He had “very modest expectations” of potential for cooperation. And he reminded a press conference in London “of their behaviour in mucking around inside other people’s elections and that sort of thing.”

This comes at a time when Washington is enmeshed in investigations into Donald Trump’s Russian connections and allegations that the Kremlin attempted to get a Muscovian candidate into the White House. In the latest development, Mr Trump’s national security advisor, former Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, has asked for immunity from prosecution in return for testifying to Congress about Russian meddling in the US presidential elections.

Gen Mattis had once presided over an investigation into Lt Gen Flynn himself. The proceedings in 2010 found that Lt Gen Flynn had shared “classified information with various foreign military officers and officials in Afghanistan without proper authorization.” It was reported last November that Lt Gen Flynn had personally crossed out Gen Mattis’s name from a list of candidates for security position in the Trump administration.

Mr Trump had declared that Lt Gen Flynn was right to ask for immunity from prosecution as the Democrats were carrying out a “witch hunt” against his disgraced former national security advisor. He also continued to complain about the investigation of Russian actions as also a witch hunt. Asked directly recently whether Moscow had interfered in the US elections, something which goes to the heart of Mr Trump’s legitimacy as President, Gen Mattis responded “I would say there’s very little doubt that they have interfered or attempted to interfere in a number of elections in democracies.” One wonders how long the Defence Secretary will hang around if the net continues to close in around Mr Trump.