The United States Intelligence Community (IC) is a federation of 16 separate United States government agencies  agencies that work separately and together to conduct intelligence activities considered necessary for the conduct of foreign relations and national security of the United States. Member organizations of the IC include intelligence agencies, military intelligence, and civilian intelligence and analysis offices within federal executive departments. The IC is headed by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI)), who reports to the President of the United States.

The U.K. and U.S. economies are closely tied in many areas and share many of the same interests. The United States and the United Kingdom are among each other’s strongest commercial partners. With a strong legacy of bilateral trade and investment, both economies can continue to explore mutual areas of growth and development to sustain global economic competitiveness.  

The Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson described the findings by the intelligence agencies as “clearly troubling,” and called cyber attacks from foreign actors such as Russia “the greatest and most complex threat” facing the country today.

The Secretary of State-designate labeled Russia’s annexation of Crimea to be “illegal” and proposed tougher measures to combat the Kremlin’s invasion of eastern Ukraine, vowing that he would advocate providing Ukrainian soldiers with weapons.

Tensions between Russia and the European Union, the United States and others have been high since the Russian annexation of Crimea in February-March 2014.

A March 2016 survey by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and its Polish partner, the Institute of Public Affairs (ISP), found that while a large minority of Germans polled (38 percent) perceived Russia to be a military threat, the majority (56 percent) did not.