US-RUSSIA SUMMIT TO BE HELD IN HELSINKI ON JULY 16, OFFICIALS SAY
WASHINGTON— US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet for their first summit on July 16 in Helsinki.
The Kremlin and the White House simultaneously announced the place and date a day after reaching agreement that the two leaders hold a summit.
Prior engagements
Trump will meet Putin after attending a July 11-12 summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and a visit to Britain while Putin will preside over the July 15 closing ceremony of the Fifa World Cup hosted by Russia.
The two leaders have met twice before on the sidelines of international gatherings and spoken at least eight times by phone.
They have also made positive comments about each other now and then with Putin lauding Trump’s handling of the US economy.
Reducing tension
The White House said Trump hoped the summit would “help reduce tension.”
“The president is pursuing this meeting in the interest of national security and to determine whether Russia is willing to make progress in our relationship,” White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters said aboard Air Force One.
The summit is also a boost for Finland, whose capital hosted major Cold War summits.
Small steps
Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia hopes the Helsinki summit will restart a dialogue between Washington and Moscow.
“Even small steps in reducing tensions would be in everybody’s interest,” remarked Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, who said he hoped his own concerns about tensions in the Baltic Sea region would also be discussed.
After Trump and Putin met briefly in Vietnam in November 2017, Trump was criticized in the United States for saying he believed Putin’s denial on Russian meddling.