‘PROPAGANDA PLOY’

Russia Says It Sent a Plane Full of Medical Supplies to the U.S. After Trump-Putin Call

Critics have warned that, in accepting the aid, President Trump has fallen for a Kremlin public-relations stunt.

The Kremlin claimed Wednesday morning that it sent a plane full of medical supplies to the United States—days after a phone call between President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. The Guardian reported the plane left from Chkalovsky airfield outside Moscow on Tuesday night and will arrive in the U.S. on Wednesday. Footage from the plane broadcast by Russian state media showed stacks of cardboard boxes in the cargo hold, but it’s unknown exactly what the plane is carrying. Critics have warned that, in accepting help from Russia, the White House is falling for a Kremlin public-relations operation. “Hopefully someone will tell Trump that he’s playing right into a propaganda ploy,” wrote Andrew Weiss of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Twitter. Putin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters that Trump “gratefully accepted” the aid during a phone call between the two on Monday.