Vladmir Putin-Donald Trump Summit Set For July 16 In Helsinki

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet on July 16 in Helsinki. Moscow and Washington confirmed the location and date of the summit simultaneously on Thursday.

“President Donald J. Trump and President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will meet on July 16, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland. The two leaders will discuss relations between the United States and Russia and a range of national security issues,” the White House statement said.

The Helsinki summit will be Mr. Trump’s 3rd set of meetings with Putin after the G20 in Hamburg in July 2017 and the APEC Summit in Da Nang, in November 2017.

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Trump said on Wednesday in the Oval Office that topics like Syria and Ukraine might be discussed. “I think we’ll be talking about Syria. I think we’ll be talking about Ukraine. I think we’ll be talking about many other subjects. And we’ll see what happens. You never know about meetings what happens, right?” Trump said. “I think a lot of good things can come with meetings with people.”

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At a press conference on Wednesday, National Security Adviser John Bolton told reporters he expected that the Russian meddling in U.S. politics also to be discussed at the summit.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, continues to claim that the Russian government played no role in the election. “It was stated clearly by our side that the Russian state hasn’t interfered with the U.S. domestic politics, moreover hasn’t interfered in the 2016 election,” a Kremlin representative said. On Thursday before news of the summit’s location, Trump backed up that claim tweeting that Russia was not involved. “Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!” he wrote.

However, Bolton said that he didn’t expect “specific outcomes or decisions” from the meeting.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said he welcomed the planned dialogue. “The agenda of the meeting of Presidents Trump and Putin will be decided during the next two weeks, but they will certainly discuss the overall international situation and hopefully also arms control and disarmament issues,” he said in a statement. “Even small steps in reducing tensions would be in everybody’s interest.”

Article by Steven Abendroth