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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Politics
Nicholas Cecil

Vladimir Putin trying to get in Donald Trump's head to 'manipulate' him with flattery, says former MI6 chief

Donald Trump Vladimir Putin MI6 Alex Younger United States Ukraine Russia

Vladimir Putin’s message of congratulations to Donald Trump was already trying to get in his head to “manipulate” him, says a former MI6 chief.

Sir Alex Younger, who headed the British Secret Intelligence Service from 2014 to 2020, described the words to the US president elect from former KGB man Putin as “classic spy bluster”.

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