{ "id": "IN10933", "type": "CRS Insight", "typeId": "INSIGHTS", "number": "IN10933", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 583046, "date": "2018-07-20", "retrieved": "2019-05-03T16:05:06.648138", "title": "The Trump-Putin Summit", "summary": "On July 16, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit in Helsinki, Finland. This was the first U.S.-Russia summit since 2010, when President Barack Obama met with Putin\u2019s predecessor Dmitry Medvedev in Prague to sign the New START strategic arms reduction treaty. \nThe Presidents characterized the July 2018 summit as a first step to improving relations. President Trump stated his view that the United States and Russia need \u201cto find ways to cooperate in pursuit of shared interests\u201d and resolve global challenges. President Putin said his goal is to restore an acceptable level of trust and past levels of cooperation on issues of mutual interest. \nMedia reports have focused on President Trump\u2019s remarks about whether or not he believes the U.S. intelligence community\u2019s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. However, the summit discussions apparently ranged widely and touched on many issues central to U.S.-Russia relations.\nSome observers suggest the Trump Administration\u2019s efforts at rapprochement are no different than efforts of past Administrations to \u201creset\u201d relations with Russia. Others point out these past efforts were temporary at best or that rapprochement is not possible until Russia reverses its actions in Ukraine and ceases interfering in U.S. and European domestic affairs, among other hostile activities.\nNeither the White House nor the Russian administration has released a formal readout of the summit, which included a private meeting of the Presidents. The main topics were reportedly as follows, based on transcripts of the summit press conference and media interviews in English (here, here, and here) and in Russian (here and here), and subsequent official clarifications.\nElection Interference. In addition to his remarks on whether or not he believes the U.S. intelligence community assessment, President Trump said he directly addressed election interference in his meeting with Putin and that \u201cwe spent a great deal of time talking about it.\u201d In a subsequent interview, President Trump added that he was \u201cvery strong on the fact that we can\u2019t have meddling.... I let him know we can\u2019t have this, we\u2019re not going to have it, and that\u2019s the way it\u2019s going to be.\u201d \nPresident Putin said he told President Trump that \u201cthe Russian state has never interfered and is not going to interfere in U.S. domestic affairs, including election processes.\u201d However, Putin also argued that \u201cyou can\u2019t believe anybody\u201d and insisted that one of the companies under U.S. indictment (run by a wealthy businessperson close to Putin) is a \u201cprivate\u201d company that \u201cdoes not represent the Russian state.\u201d \nSyria. President Putin suggested that \u201cthe task of establishing peace and reconciliation\u201d in Syria can be an area for successful cooperation and stated his view that the two countries might also cooperate on refugee return. \nPutin also expressed support for the Syrian regime\u2019s current offensive (\u201ccrushing terrorists,\u201d as he put it) in southwestern Syria, where Russia and the United States agreed in 2017 to establish a de-escalation zone. Putin indicated that Russia expected the situation to return to the prewar status quo governed by the 1974 Israel-Syria Disengagement Agreement, which provides for separation of Syrian and Israeli forces around the Golan Heights. \nPresident Trump noted the importance of assisting the \u201cpeople of Syria ... on a humanitarian basis\u201d and \u201ccreating safety for Israel.\u201d He said he made clear the \u201cthe United States will not allow Iran to benefit from our successful campaign\u201d against the Islamic State. \nArms Control. The Russian delegation reportedly presented a set of proposals to \u201cfine-tune dialogue on strategic stability,\u201d including discussions on extending the New START Treaty, implementing the INF Treaty prohibiting intermediate-range missiles (which the United States has accused Russia of violating), missile defense, and space weapons. In an interview, President Putin said he assured President Trump that Russia \u201cis prepared to extend\u201d the New START Treaty, which expires in 2021.\nNonproliferation. President Trump said they discussed the denuclearization of North Korea and that President Putin wanted \u201cvery much to end that problem.\u201d In an interview, he added that Putin \u201csaid he would help\u201d on North Korea and \u201cagrees with what I\u2019m doing.\u201d \nWith respect to Iran, the Presidents referenced their opposing positions on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from which the Trump Administration withdrew in May 2018. Putin said the JCPOA \u201ceffectively ensures the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program\u201d and expressed concern about the U.S. withdrawal. President Trump said he \u201cemphasized the importance of placing pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear ambitions.\u201d \nCounterterrorism and Cybersecurity. President Putin called for restoring a Working Group on Counterterrorism that was suspended after Russia\u2019s 2014 invasion of Ukraine and reiterated a proposal to establish a working group on cybersecurity. President Trump said the Presidents \u201cagreed to maintain open communication between our security agencies to protect our citizens\u201d from \u201cradical Islamic terrorism.\u201d \nUkraine. President Putin said the Presidents discussed the Ukraine conflict and implementation of the Minsk Agreements for resolving the conflict. Putin suggested the United States could be firmer in encouraging Ukraine to fulfill its commitments. Putin also said President Trump adhered to U.S. policy recognizing Crimea as part of Ukraine. President Trump did not mention Ukraine in his public remarks.\nWorking Groups. According to the U.S. Department of State, three concrete \u201cmodest\u201d proposals \u2014\u201ca high-level working group with business leaders,\u201d \u201csome sort of an expert council,\u201d and meetings of the two security councils \u201cto discuss follow-up meetings\u201d\u2014were the \u201cthree takeaways from the meeting\u201d and \u201ca pretty good place to start.\u201d\nTo date, there is no indication that the following subjects were discussed:\nState-Sponsored Violence. Neither President said that assassination attempts, including the March 2018 nerve agent attack on UK citizen and former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, or other alleged acts of Russian state-supported violence were discussed.\nSanctions. Neither President indicated that U.S. sanctions on Russia were discussed.\nAfter the meeting, many Members of Congress expressed concern about the lack of clarity concerning what was discussed in the private meeting and are considering new legislation related to Russia. President Trump has invited Putin to the White House in the fall.", "type": "CRS Insight", "typeId": "INSIGHTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/IN10933", "sha1": "593fc7afae4ca2bd052dbd74800d3f1c436eaaa9", "filename": "files/20180720_IN10933_593fc7afae4ca2bd052dbd74800d3f1c436eaaa9.html", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4786, "name": "Europe, Russia, & Eurasia" } ] } ], "topics": [ "CRS Insights", "National Defense" ] }