NEWSLINK: “This Is How the G-20 Summit Helped Trump and Putin Claim Victories. Don’t anticipate a swift improvement in the largely dysfunctional U.S.-Russia relationship. For Putin, the dysfunction is useful for domestic politics.” – The National Interest: Matthew Rojandsky

Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“The much anticipated first face-to-face meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has taken place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. The two presidents met for over two hours, with only translators and their respective chief diplomats—Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov—joining them. Despite its length, the meeting’s narrow agenda, which Tillerson himself called transactional, also underscores the continuing dysfunction in U.S.-Russia relations.

Both the State Department and the Kremlin confirmed that the two presidents discussed cyber security, Ukraine and Syria. Specific deliverables were limited, and focused primarily on improving the conditions for continuing dialogue, especially around the shared priority of counterterrorism. This should at least reassure Trump’s critics that no “grand bargain” has been offered or agreed linking Syria, Ukraine, or any other issue. …”

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