World War 3 With Russia Averted

Trump's victory has PREVENTED World War 3, says Kremlin

By TOM BATCHELOR

00:00, Thu, Nov 10, 2016 | UPDATED: 16:00, Thu, Nov 10, 2016

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin

The senior Moscow diplomat, who advises Vladimir Putin, said a Hillary Clinton presidency would have plunged the world into a diplomatic crisis.

But a former British foreign secretary has warned Mr Trump against cosying up to the Russian strongman, saying the Kremlin was "unafraid to use aggression and intervention to shore up its influence".

Speaking after a stunning upset that has shaken the US political establishment to its core, Mr Putin's right-hand-man said Americans had faced two choices on the ballot paper: "World War Three or multilateral peace."

Presidential adviser Sergei Glazyev added: "Clinton was a symbol of war, and Trump has a chance to change this course."

The Kremlin was known to favour a Republican victory on Tuesday and Mr Trump has expressed a willingness to forge closer ties with Moscow.

Fellow aide to Mr Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, said Russia was looking forward to the end of President Barack Obama's tenure.

He said the election result would bring to an end the "problems [President Obama] caused between the Kremlin and Washington".

After the result was announced on Wednesday morning, Mr Putin sent a telegram to the president-elect expressing "hope toward joint work to lift Russian-US relations from the state of crisis, as well as to address the pressing issues of the international agenda and the search for effective responses to global security challenges".

He said in a speech later that rebuilding relations "will not be an easy path considering the unfortunate degradation of relations.

"But Russia is ready and wants to restore full-fledged relations with the US."

Mr Trump's call for the US to reduce its funding for an "obsolete" NATO could also be a major boost for Moscow, allowing Russia to increase its intimidation of eastern European states.

A stronger Russia threatens to destabilise Europe, providing the catalyst for fresh conflict which has the potential - if still remote - to escalate into a third world war.

Former British foreign secretary William Hague warned today that the incoming Republican candidate must keep the man in the Kremlin at arm's length.

Lord Hague, who led the Tory party for four years, and served in the Cabinet under John Major and David Cameron, counselled Mr Trump to "be clear-eyed about Putin".

Writing in the Telegraph, he said: "Clinton herself tried to 'reset' relations with Russia, but this is a power in long-term decline unafraid to use aggression and intervention to shore up its influence.

"Unless Washington shows strength and resolution, Moscow will use any thaw in relations to its own advantage."