It’s happening! I cannot wait to see how the left and #NeverTrump will behave when President Donald Trump holds a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The two leaders will meet in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16.
Yesterday, I blogged that a Kremlin official announced the two sides came to an agreement after US national security adviser John Bolton met with Putin on Wednesday. Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told the media that Trump and Putin “would start with a one-on-one meeting between the presidents that could last several hours, and would focus on bilateral relations, Syria and arms-control issues.
Bolton explained why Trump needs to have this meeting with Putin. From NPR:
Bolton told reporters in Moscow the summit agenda would include a variety of issues, including arms control, but the meeting would not necessarily produce any specific agreements.He acknowledged that any meeting with Putin is likely to generate some “political noise” in the U.S., where Trump has been dogged by a special counsel’s probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.”A lot of people have said or implied over time that a meeting between President Trump and President Putin would somehow prove some nexus between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, which is complete nonsense,” Bolton said. “The president recognizes there may be some criticism of this decision to have the meeting. You’ve heard some of it here today. But what must guide his conduct of American foreign policy is the pursuit of American national interests. And he judges — correctly in my view — that this bilateral summit between himself and President Putin is something he needs to do and will do, regardless of political criticism at home.”
Bolton also “discussed Russia’s election meddling during his meeting with Putin and he expected that it would come up again when Trump and Putin meet.”
Trump travels to Brussels next month for NATO meetings on July 11 and 12. Members of NATO asked Trump to meet with Putin after the Brussels meeting “citing concerns Trump might agree to something with Putin that they are then forced to go along with.”
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