Vladmir Putin is a ‘pipsqueak’ in US-Russia relations: Bill Browder

The U.S.-Russia summit is an opportunity for President Trump to show his true leadership and tell Vladimir Putin that America will not tolerate the Kremlin’s political misdeeds, according to Hermitage Capital CEO Bill Browder.

“[Trump] doesn’t need to ask Putin anything. He needs to tell Putin, ‘don’t mess around anymore because we are the 800-pound gorilla,” he said during an interview with FOX Business’ Liz Claman on Friday.

The two leaders are set to meet in Helsinki, Finland on Monday after the Department of Justice on Friday indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking into the computers of the Democratic National Committee.

Browder, a financier and vocal Putin critic, said the Russian president should not be given an opening to be on an equal stage to the leader of the free world after invading foreign countries and meddling in the U.S. elections.

“Vladimir Putin is a pipsqueak in this relationship,” he said on “Countdown to the Closing Bell.” “Putin deserves to be contained and hopefully one day sent to the criminal court of The Hague.”

Browder worked with Congress to get the Magnitsky Act passed, preventing foreigners who violate human rights from entering the U.S. He once ran one of the largest foreign investment funds in Russian companies from 1996-2006.