RUSSIALINK: “THE HELSINKI SUMMIT – CAN THE ELECTION-INTERFERENCE SHADOW BE LIFTED?” – Valdai Discussion Club/ Timothy Colton/ Harvard

“The Helsinki summit between Presidents Putin and Trump was their first full-scale … The pair called for “constructive dialogue” without revealing any concrete results from the talks, other than plans for aides to follow up. They did hint at progress toward an understanding over Syria, presumably involving mutual acceptance of continuance of the Assad regime and Russian restraints on Iran, which Trump indicated would be packaged for domestic consumption as protection of Israel. There was only glancing reference to that summit staple, nuclear arms control, and clear evidence of continued disagreement over Iran and Ukraine (though not over North Korea). What most distinguished this summit from its dozens of predecessors was the shadow cast over the proceedings by American domestic politics. …”