Russia and the United States issued identical statements Thursday morning, announcing that the upcoming Trump-Putin summit would be held on Monday, July 16, in the city of Helsinki, Finland.
Russian officials had already confirmed on Wednesday that a deal had been reached on holding a summit between President Trump and President Putin. Though the two have met twice on the sideline of international events, this will be the first direct summit with the Russian leader of Trump’s time in office.
Today’s announcements just confirmed the date and time. The statements also said that a range of national security issues important to both nations would be discussed during the meeting. They did not elaborate on what those were.
Bilateral ties are very poor at the moment, and generally easing tensions will likely be among the top priorities in the meeting. NATO military buildups in Eastern Europe will likely be a subject of Russian concern as well, and both are likely to fault the other on policies in Syria.
With allegations still swirling about Russian “meddling” in the 2016 election, President Trump has been very cautious with his diplomatic ties with Russian officials. This has meant that, despite substantial issues to be addressed, the US has much less engagement with Russia than in years past.
John Bolton, who was in Moscow negotiating this summit, says that President Trump will be raising a “full range of issues” during the summit. He downplayed the significance of the meeting, saying he didn’t view the summit as anything unusual.
Which normally it wouldn’t be. US and Russian presidents meet often. That Trump hasn’t done so formally in the last 18 months is much more unusual, however, and the political circus still swirling around the election will likely make the summit controversial, particularly for Trump’s political opponents.
What are the Trump whiners going to say I wonder?
Probably something similar to how the Trump supporters support him even when he does something stupid.
Yup, it’s kinda like my country right or wrong, my mother drunk or sober. Heaven help us.
3.5 million people get on a plane every day, and go talk to people, and take pictures. It’s called tourism. It’s what he does there that matters.
Trump has at least one unacceptability; which is countered by another one from Russia.
It seems that Russia accepts Nato army stationed at its borders. It has to, but i don’t expect he will ever say it. It’s either accept the presence of Nato troops near Russian borders or wage war.
So far Russians are willing to fear and hear these troops.
N.Korea also has to hear and fear not only US, but also S.Korean troops. It has no choice: either accept it or wage war. Wisely, NK accepted, thus far, the will of US and S.Korea.
Hopefully it works out better than the Kim summit.
https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1012833955027079168