UK spy chiefs recruit Russian speakers as Donald Trump is mocked for Putin invite

British spy chiefs used Twitter today to recruit Russian speakers for intelligence operations - just hours after Donald Trump invited Vladimir Putin to Washington.

GCHQ launched the jobs drive following the Novichok poisonings in Wiltshire, Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, its alleged interference in the US elections and military intervention in Syria.

“Fluent in #Russian? Use your skills to help protect the nation in one of our linguist roles,” the UK’s spy listening centre tweeted this morning.

Its advert states: “At GCHQ you will be the first line of assessment of the intelligence value of Russian language material.

"At MI5, you’ll carry out core language analysis work in support of investigations.

"At MI6, you’ll work as an integral part of an operational team, sifting Russian language material against customer requirements to identify reportable intelligence that will shape and influence the team’s operational decision-making.”

President Trump today faced calls to cancel his invitation to Mr Putin following their one-on-one meeting in Helsinki on Monday.

With controversy raging over exactly what was said between the two men in Finland, Democrats in the US blasted the move to arrange a second meeting.

“Until we know what happened at that two-hour meeting in Helsinki, the president should have no more one-on-one interactions with Putin... in the United States, in Russia, or anywhere else,” said Charles Schumer, the Democrats’ Senate leader.

Democrat Congressman Ted Deutch tweeted House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan: “Hey... didn’t think I’d have to say this, but do NOT invite Putin to address a joint session of Congress.”

Mr Trump brushed aside criticism of his relationship with the Russian leader yesterday by inviting him to America in the autumn, catching even his own senior advisers off guard.

Rerun of presidents’ cabaret spells trouble for diplomacy

Robert Fox Defence Editor

With Putin expected at the White House this autumn, we are in for a rerun of the amazing cabaret put on by the disrupters of world politics in Helsinki.

We are sure to get a new stream of tweets — they have started already, with more misspeakings and mangled double negatives. And that pesky Mueller probe into Russian meddling in the elections of 2016 won’t go away either.

No one can miss the irony that Vladimir Putin will be protected and surveilled by the very agencies whose work Donald Trump rubbished in Helsinki, preferring to take the Russian view against them.

In the UK and the US it is now thought that Russian military intelligence agency the GRU — which Sergei Skripal once served — was involved in the election operation and the Skripal attack. This led Lord Hennessy, one of the top British authorities on security and intelligence in the Cold War, to suggest that “we are now involved in a new Cold War” in an LSE lecture last night.

The two presidents cosying up to one another bodes badly for allies and for the rules of diplomacy and international relations. Trump did not mention Nato or friendly powers in the Helsinki briefing. It appeared that both men saw the world not in terms of alliances, but proxies, patsies and victims.

On the currency of their politics and diplomacy, Putin was explicit. “As to the question of who can or can’t be believed and whether anyone can be believed: no one can be believed. Where did you get the idea that President Trump trusts me or that I trust him fully? He protects the interests of the US. I protect the interests of the Russian Federation.”

Truth, in other words, is entirely tradeable. Expect more of the same when the Helsinki floor show resumes in Washington this autumn.

“Say that again,” National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said after he was told onstage at a security forum in Colorado that the White House had announced the invitation on Twitter.

“Okaaay, that’s going to be special,” he added, clearly taken by surprise.

Asked if he thought another one-on-one meeting was a good idea, Mr Coats said: “If I were asked that question, I would look for a different way of doing it.”

He also admitted he had no idea what Mr Trump and Mr Putin discussed at Monday’s summit.

After initially appearing to side with Mr Putin over his denial that Moscow meddled in the 2016 US election, Mr Trump changed tack and said a “double-negative” had been misunderstood.

Mr Coats said Kremlin involvement was “undeniable” and it is “trying to undermine our basic values.”

Russia’s envoy to the US said the Kremlin is “open” to Mr Putin’s visit.