Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Russia has launched a fresh attack on Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, accusing him of trying to start a new Cold War by driving a wedge between Russia and America.
The country’s embassy in London said Mr Johnson was pursuing the "opposite objective" to that sought by Margaret Thatcher as she tried to end the decades long stand-off.
It comes after the Foreign Secretary said Vladimir Putin’s regime is "up to all sorts of very dirty tricks" in the world, such as cyber warfare, and amid claims that the country holds compromising material on US President-elect Donald Trump.
Using its official Twitter account, the embassy said: "Thatcher went to US to mend relations [between] Washington & Moscow & end Cold War, @Boris_Johnson pursued the opposite objective".
Sources close to the Foreign Secretary dismissed the accusation as "complete rubbish" after it was made online on Wednesday.
Mr Johnson has just returned from a trip to the States where he told Mr Trump’s team that Russia is up to "dirty tricks" and was behind hacking during the presidential election.
However, he also told the Commons on Tuesday that it would be wrong for Britain "to demonise Russia or push Russia into a corner".
Mr Trump himself has expressed skepticism about links between Russia and the hacking of Democrats’ emails, while Mr Johnson’s intervention saw Moscow accuse the UK of pursuing a "witch hunt".
The embassy has also speculated that the Government was seeking to rerun the Brexit referendum by claiming it was tainted by Russian influence and attacked the British intelligence services.
It directly criticised former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove for standing down from a Cambridge University intelligence forum over fears of Kremlin influence.
In Washington, a classified briefing on Russian hacking given to both President Barack Obama and the President-elect, included allegations that Mr Trump or his surrogates had direct contact with the Kremlin before and during the 2016 election campaign.
It also details "perverted sexual acts" involving prostitutes alleged to have taken place in a hotel room in Moscow. The suggestion is that the claims could have been used by Russia to compromise the incoming US President.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments