In an interview to discuss the outcome of last night’s two-hour long telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, India’s former ambassador to the US, who served in Washington during the first Trump presidency, said: “The Russians have stolen a clear march over the Americans”.

Navtej Sarna described the outcome as “a marginal outcome”, which is nowhere near what Trump or the American secretary of state had wanted and sought.

In an 18-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Sarna said Trump had clearly been “played” by Putin but had, nonetheless, convinced himself that the outcome, as he put it on Truth Social, is “very good and productive”.

Sarna said that in the eyes of the world, Putin will have got the better of Trump, but this will not change Trump’s image and standing in the eyes of his supporters.

Asked if he agreed with the view that the outcome was a disappointing day for US diplomacy but a good one for the Kremlin, Sarna said “absolutely”, but then pointed out that this was, in fact, better understood as a bad day for the Trump White House, which was responsible for the outcome.

“As far as diplomacy is concerned, I think the Russians have stolen a clear march over the Americans”, he said.

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