Hours before he was due to sit down for his first ever summit with Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump has derided his nation, blaming what he called “U.S. foolishness” for bad relations between Washington and Moscow, while the Kremlin said it expected a tough meeting.
Trump’s comments show how much domestic political pressure he is under over the meeting in the Finnish capital Helsinki, while the Kremlin’s gloomy comments reflect its belief that the fact the summit is even happening is a win for Russia.
Critics and his own advisers have urged Trump to use the summit to press Putin hard about election meddling and other “malign” activities. But hours before he was due to meet the Russian president, Trump focused his ire on his own country and the investigation into possible links between his 2016 campaign and Russia. The president has denied any collusion took place.
“Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!” wrote Trump on Twitter, referring to the investigation into possible collusion.
During a breakfast meeting with Finland’s president before the meeting with Putin in the Finnish capital, Trump appeared upbeat. Asked what he would say to the Russian president, Trump said: “We’ll be just fine, thank you.”
Trump also repeated his belief that predecessor Barack Obama had failed to act on Russian meddling.
While Trump has been abroad since last week, the special prosecutor investigating allegations that Russia interfered to help Trump win the 2016 presidential election indicted 12 Russians on Friday for stealing Democratic Party documents.
Neither side expects major breakthroughs from the talks and the outcome is uncertain given sharp differences between Washington and Moscow over everything from Syria to Ukraine.
For Putin, the fact that the summit is even happening despite Russia’s semi-pariah status among some Americans and U.S. allies is a geopolitical win because, in Russian eyes, it shows that Washington recognises Moscow as a great power that cannot be isolated or ignored.
The Kremlin made clear beforehand it did not expect an easy meeting, taking Trump to task over his criticism of a planned Russian gas pipeline to Germany and suggesting it would be hard to find common ground on Syria because of differences over Iran.
Trump wants Russia to help Moscow to use its influence in Syria where it is backing President Bashar al-Assad militarily to push Iranian and Iranian-allied forces out. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RT TV station ahead of the summit that was unlikely.
“Of course Syria will be discussed by the two presidents,” said Peskov. “We all know what Washington thinks of Iran. But at the same time Iran is a good partner to us in terms of trade, economic cooperation and political dialogue. So this will not be an easy exchange of views.”
Russia hoped however that the summit would be “the first step” in overcoming a crisis in relations, he said.
“Presidents Trump and Putin respect each other and they get along well. There is no clear agenda. It will be determined by the heads of state themselves as they go along.” (AFP)
