Trump, Putin will meet face-to-face for first time on G-20 trip
U.S. president has shot at making more favorable impact in Europe than on first try in Brussels
President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — whose long-distance relationship has sparked months of debate and speculation — will meet face-to-face for the first time this week in Hamburg.
Before the Group of 20 meeting Friday, Trump will meet Wednesday with an important ally in Warsaw and give what the White House bills as a “major speech” to the Polish people about the future of America’s relationship with Europe.
He’ll meet with the leaders of 12 Eastern European countries as part of an emerging regional effort known as the Three Seas Initiative — an energy-driven economic partnership.
“Warsaw provides a fantastic opportunity to provide the Trump vision of foreign policy,” said Ian Brezinski, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
For Trump, it’s a second chance to make a first impression in Europe. In Brussels in May, Trump scolded NATO allies for not meeting their commitments to spend 2% of economic output on defense. He failed to assure allies that the United States would come to their defense if they were attacked. Poland is one of only five countries that meet the burden-sharing agreement, and it’s the home of 4,000 newly placed U.S. troops meant to deter Russian aggression.
“Brussels, unfortunately, was a flat-footed articulation of U.S. policy,” Brezinski said. “Warsaw provides an opportunity to recalibrate some of his rhetoric that was unhelpful in Brussels.”
For many allies, that begins by condemning Russian efforts to undermine Western democracies. National security adviser H.R. McMaster said last week that Trump’s policy was “to confront Russia’s destabilizing behavior — whether it’s cyber threats, whether it’s political subversion here in Europe and elsewhere.”
Trump has been slow to acknowledge what the intelligence community said was a Russian effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election through propaganda and by orchestrating the theft and release of emails belonging to campaign aides of his rival Hillary Clinton.
In January, intelligence agencies delivered a report to President Obama outlining what they said were efforts directed by Putin to help Trump get elected. Whether key members of Trump’s campaign knew about Putin’s alleged meddling is the subject of a wide-ranging special counsel investigation led by former FBI director James Mueller.
White House officials insisted the meeting with Putin at the G-20 summit would be no different from those planned with leaders from Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, China, Mexico, Indonesia and Singapore.