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What does Russia want with Donald Trump? Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint news conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the parliament building in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint news conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the parliament building in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. AP

Why would Russia interfere to get Donald Trump elected? On Jan. 17, we got the answer to that question. Your page 5A story (“Trump’s attitude alarms U.S. allies in Europe”) makes it clear that Mr. Trump’s and Vladimir Putin’s agenda is to disrupt the balance of power in Europe, which can only benefit Russia. Putin is pure, unrepentant KGB.

The evil of Russian communism was not its economic model, but that it was an imperialistic dictatorship, gobbling up smaller nations and sending dissidents to the gulag.

Carol Nelson-Selby, San Luis Obispo

This story was originally published February 6, 2017 at 9:14 PM with the headline "What does Russia want with Donald Trump? Europe.."

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