National Security Adviser Bolton is in Moscow to finalize plans for a meeting between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, while the President is renewing his censure of NATO on the campaign trail ahead of the defense bloc’s upcoming summit.
Both activities are to happen in about two weeks, in mid-July when Trump leaves for Europe to meet with NATO allies in a bid to strengthen relations with them, though the likelihood of that happening is slim, CNN writes. Bearing in mind the outcome of this month’s G7 meeting, European and U.S. diplomats aren’t very confident the meeting will go as planned.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials are proceeding with plans as if Trump is to meet Putin around that time, after stops in Brussels for the NATO talks and the UK for a working visit. A possible venue for the Trump-Putin summit is Helsinki, Finland or the Austrian capital Vienna.
According to two sources, the meeting with the Russian leader could also take place before that time, which has raised concern among some European diplomats that Trump may agree to something with Putin that NATO members will then be forced to accept. For that reason, they have pressed for the meeting between the two presidents to occur after the NATO summit.
“It’s the uncertainty,” one western official said in explaining European concerns at a Trump-Putin meeting. “No one knows what he’ll walk out saying.”
Lately, President Trump has shown a more conciliatory attitude toward Russia, evident in his urging of G7 leaders to reinstate the Russian president in their group after he was expelled for Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that Trump and Putin will likely meet “in the not too distant future” following Bolton’s visit to Moscow. The summit could bring into question Trump’s commitment to the U.S.’ traditional alliances, The Washington Post writes, and it would come under intense scrutiny as special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Be the first to comment