Many will disagree with me, but I think links between Putin and...

Many will disagree with me, but I think links between Putin and Le Pen can be exaggerated. The National Front received a loan from a Russian bank several years ago, and this is described as the smoking gun, however they justified this by saying no domestic bank would do business with them and there is probably truth to this. Parties, left or right, who are outside the traditional mainstream do face a legitimate threat of being 'de-banked' as it were.

I also think the Putinist / collusion label was thrown around in US domestic politics far too loosely in recent years, with the perverse result that many in the US -and by way of American media, many in Australia too, not least on hotcopper - now wear the Putin / Russia label as a badge of honour, as an up yours to their political adversaries.