• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Thursday, August 18, 2022
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

Trump, Putin Tout Reset in Ties at Summit

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
07/16/18
in World
Trump and Putin during a press conference in Helsinki

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Photo: Yuri Kadobnova, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Presidents Donald J. Trump and Vladimir Putin vowed a fresh start to troubled relations between the world’s greatest nuclear powers at their first summit on Monday, as the American leader rejected a chance to condemn Moscow’s alleged manipulation of U.S. elections.

The U.S. and Russian leaders came out of their meeting in Helsinki expressing a desire to cooperate on global challenges, after talks on an array of issues from Syria, Ukraine and China to trade tariffs and the size of their nuclear arsenals.

Standing alongside Putin at a joint news conference, Trump said he had “spent a great deal of time talking about” election meddling, without going into detail or explicitly condemning any interference, after 12 Russian agents were indicted in the United States.

Rather, when pressed about the verdict of his own intelligence chiefs, Trump stressed that Putin had delivered a “powerful” denial of any Russian vote meddling and said the U.S. investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller had been a “disaster” for the United States.

Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of “high crimes & misdemeanors.” It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) July 16, 2018

Trump again denied any collusion between his campaign and the Kremlin, while Putin insisted: “The Russian state has never interfered and is not planning to interfere in the USA’s internal affairs.”

The U.S. leader, bent on forging a personal bond with the Kremlin chief despite the election allegations, went into the summit blaming the “stupidity” of his predecessors for plunging ties to their present low.

Afterwards, both men were determined to accentuate the positive.

“Our relationship has never been worse than it is now. However, that changed as of about four hours ago. I really believe that,” Trump said, vowing the summit was “only the beginning”.

Putin said: “It is obvious to everyone that bilateral ties are going through a difficult period. However there are no objective reasons for these difficulties, the current tense atmosphere.”

Praising the “frank and business-like atmosphere” of the summit, the Russian leader said he considered the talks “very successful and useful.”

The two leaders met one-on-one for more than two hours in the Finnish capital for the historic summit, with just their interpreters present, before they were joined by their national security teams.

Joint Press Conference from Helsinki, Finland: https://t.co/fadLMDuGiY

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2018

Many in Washington were agog at Trump’s decision to sit alone with Putin, worried about what he might bargain away to the former KGB spymaster, after previously cosying up to the autocratic leaders of China and North Korea.

Indeed, some domestic critics wanted the Helsinki summit called off entirely, after the 12 Russians were indicted by Mueller under a long-running probe into Moscow’s alleged hacking of Democratic emails in a bid to drive Trump to victory.

But Trump, convinced his unique brand of diplomacy could make inroads with Putin, pressed ahead and looked forward to “having an extraordinary relationship” as the pair sat down to discuss the global hotspots.

Putin, basking in congratulations from Trump and other world leaders for the successful staging of the World Cup in Russia, said: “The time has come to talk in a substantive way about our relations and problem areas of the world.”

Trump added: “Frankly, we have not been getting along for the last number of years. And I really think the world wants to see us get along. We are the two great nuclear powers.”

Thank you Helsinki, Finland! pic.twitter.com/rh4NUjPSwU

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2018

‘Foolishness and Stupidity’

Trump began the day by firing a Twitter broadside at his domestic opponents, blaming the diplomatic chill on the investigation into alleged Russian election meddling.

“Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!” Trump tweeted.

Russia’s foreign ministry tweeted in response: “We agree.”

Trump’s U.S. opponents tried, in turn, to gain traction for the sarcastic hashtag lampooning his reluctance to criticise the Kremlin: #BAF (Blame America First).

After a stormy NATO summit in Brussels last week, Trump was accused by critics of prioritising his ties to Putin over the transatlantic alliance.

But over breakfast with Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto, he insisted NATO “has never been stronger” and “never been more together” thanks to his insistence on all allies paying their fair share.

In a weekend interview with CBS News, Trump admitted that Russia remains a foe, but he put Moscow on a par with China and the European Union as economic and diplomatic rivals.

Yet after the bad-tempered NATO summit and a contentious trip by Trump to Britain, anxious European leaders will have been relieved if not much came out of the Helsinki meeting.

Those leaders are already fuming over Trump’s imposition of trade tariffs on various countries, including Russia.

Turning the tables, European Union President Donald Tusk said Trump was guilty of “spreading fake news” with his remark about foes, and warned that the trade tensions could spiral into violent “conflict and chaos.”

“Europe and China, America and Russia, today in Beijing and in Helsinki, are jointly responsible for improving the world order, not for destroying it,” he tweeted. “I hope this message reaches Helsinki.”

Protesters were on the streets of Helsinki to denounce the policies of both Trump and Putin. Greenpeace draped a giant banner down a church tower urging: “Warm our hearts not our planet.”

Trump was also under pressure from Britain to press Putin over the nerve agent poisoning of four people in southern England.

One of the victims, Dawn Sturgess, has died and her 19-year-old son Ewan Hope told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “We need to get justice for my mum.”

But at the news conference, Trump made no mention of the Novichok incident.

RM @RepEliotEngel: The #Trump–#Putin press conference was a disgrace. Read my statement here https://t.co/xhNFJoSH4J pic.twitter.com/llDQlYbczX

— House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats (@HFACDemocrats) July 16, 2018

Share8Tweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Zelensky
World

Zelensky Calls on UN to ‘Ensure Security’ of Nuclear Plant

by Staff Writer
August 18, 2022
US President Donald Trump
Opinion

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

by Stephen J. Lyons
August 17, 2022
Marina Ovsyannikova
Media Freedom

Russian TV Journalist Faces Jail Time for Anti-Putin Protest

by Staff Writer
August 10, 2022
Mar-A-Lago raid
National

FBI Raid on Trump’s Home Ignites Political Firestorm

by Staff Writer
August 9, 2022
Ukraine nuclear plant
World

Ukraine Calls for De-Militarization of Occupied Nuclear Plant

by Staff Writer
August 8, 2022
gold bars
Business

European Union to Target Russian Gold With New Sanctions

by Staff Writer
July 15, 2022
Next Post
Christine Lagarde

IMF Calls Trade Tensions Greatest Near-Term Threat to Global Growth

Hamas capital Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem

US Lawmakers Making a New Push to Crack Down on Movement to Boycott Israel

Recommended

Zelensky

Zelensky Calls on UN to ‘Ensure Security’ of Nuclear Plant

August 18, 2022
A demonstrator sprays paint over an upside-down portrait of Chinese leader Xi Jinping

China Use of Psychiatric Hospitals to Punish Activists ‘Widespread:’ Report

August 17, 2022
US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

August 17, 2022
People carry their belonging on their heads while they walk on a flooded road following heavy rain downpour in Wawa in Ogun State southwest Nigeria

Deadly Floods Kill 50 in Northern Nigeria

August 17, 2022
Marina Ovsyannikova

Russian TV Journalist Faces Jail Time for Anti-Putin Protest

August 10, 2022
Mar-A-Lago raid

FBI Raid on Trump’s Home Ignites Political Firestorm

August 9, 2022

Opinion

US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

August 17, 2022
Protesters stand with placards in front of the statue of India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, central London, after a demonstration outside the US Embassy

Considering the Patience of Gandhi for These Troubled Times

August 5, 2022
US President Donald Trump

Owning the Words and the Libs

June 16, 2022
Officers in Uvalde, Texas, stand outside Robb Elementary School near a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims

Child Sacrifice Makes a Comeback

June 3, 2022
A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
A man holding a gun

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

May 2, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post