- and US intelligence services officially accused Russian government-supported hackers of interfering with the US election (providing zero proof for the allegation), the truth is that Vladimir Putin is delighted with the outcome from the US elections: not so much for Hillary's loss as that the sharp, neo-con wing in the Pentagon has been muted for the next four years.

And, in the first test of Trump's willingness to rebuild bridges with Russia, Putin's spokesman suggested that President-elect Donald Trump should begin rebuilding the U.S.-Kremlin relationship by urging NATO to withdraw forces from the Russian border.  Dmitry Peskov told the Associated Press that such a move  "would lead to a kind of detente in Europe." Trump repeatedly praised Putin during his campaign and suggested the U.S. abandon its commitment to the NATO alliance.