U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin
Hours before he was due to sit down for his first ever summit with Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump blamed "U.S. foolishness" for bad relations between Washington and Moscow, while the Kremlin said it expected a tough meeting.
Trump's comments show how much domestic political pressure he is under over the meeting in the Finnish capital Helsinki, while the Kremlin's low expectations reflect its belief that the fact the summit is even happening is a Russian win.
Critics and his own advisers have urged Trump to use the summit to press Putin hard about election meddling and other "malign" activities. But hours before he was due to meet the Russian president, Trump focused his ire on his own country and the investigation into possible links between his 2016 campaign and Russia. The president has denied any collusion took place.
"Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!" wrote Trump on Twitter, referring to the investigation into possible collusion.
During a breakfast meeting with Finland's president before the meeting with Putin in the Finnish capital, Trump appeared upbeat. Asked what he would say to Putin, Trump said: "We'll do just fine, thank you."
Trump and his wife Melania returned to their hotel after the breakfast and were expected to remain there for a few hours before the afternoon summit. Putin was due in Helsinki around lunch time.
The two leaders will first meet one-on-one with only their interpretors, followed by a working lunch accompanied by advisers, and a joint news conference.
While Trump has been abroad since last week, the special prosecutor investigating allegations that Russia interfered to help him win the 2016 presidential election indicted 12 Russians on Friday for stealing Democratic Party documents.
Trump's foes at home have been scathing about his apparent refusal to criticise Putin. His 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton tweeted: "Great World Cup. Question for President Trump as he meets Putin: Do you know which team you play for?"
Neither side expects major breakthroughs from the talks and the outcome is uncertain given sharp differences between Washington and Moscow over everything from Syria to Ukraine.
For Putin, the fact that the summit is even happening despite Russia's semi-pariah status among some Americans and U.S. allies is a geopolitical win because, in Russian eyes, it shows that Washington recognises Moscow as a great power that cannot be isolated or ignored.
The Kremlin made clear beforehand it did not expect an easy meeting, taking Trump to task over his criticism of a planned Russian gas pipeline to Germany and suggesting it would be hard to find common ground on Syria because of differences over Iran.
First Step
Russia hoped however that the summit would be "the first step" in overcoming a crisis in relations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia's RT TV station. "Presidents Trump and Putin respect each other and they get along well. There is no clear agenda. It will be determined by the heads of state themselves as they go along."
Trump wants Russia to help Moscow to use its influence in Syria, where it is backing President Bashar al-Assad militarily, to push Iranian and Iranian-allied forces out.
"Of course Syria will be discussed by the two presidents," said Peskov. "We all know what Washington thinks of Iran. But at the same time Iran is a good partner to us in terms of trade, economic cooperation and political dialogue. So this will not be an easy exchange of views."
Trump has predicted he will be accused of being too soft on Putin no matter how the summit goes. "If I was given the great city of Moscow as retribution for all of the sins and evils committed by Russia...I would return to criticism that it wasn’t good enough – that I should have gotten Saint Petersburg in addition!" he tweeted on Sunday.
He has said he will raise the issue of Russian election meddling, but does not expect to get anywhere.
Beyond warm words, the summit could yield an agreement to begin repairing battered U.S.-Russia relations, and maybe a deal to start talks on issues such as nuclear arms control and Syria.
The Helsinki summit is the capstone to a nearly week-long trip for Trump during which he has sown doubts about his commitment to the NATO military alliance, Washington's so-called special relationship with Britain and U.S. relations with the European Union that he called "a foe" on trade.
The European Union will open an annual meeting with China on Monday, and will be looking to fend off overtures for an anti-U.S. alliance as China seeks a European counterbalance to U.S. tariffs.Premier Li Keqiang will host European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Beijing, where the two sides could reinvigorate long-running investment treaty talks with the expected exchange of markets access offers for the first time.The meeting is expected to produce a modest communique affirming the commitment of both sides to the multilateral trading system. Leaders failed to find sufficient consensus for such a joint statement after meetings in 2016 and 2017.Turkey's 2nd anniversary of coup attempt marked in USThis year's talks come with the United States and China increasingly mired in a trade dispute with no sign of negotiations on the horizon.U.S. President Donald Trump has warned he may ultimately impose tariffs on more than $500 billion worth of Chinese goods - nearly the total amount of U.S. imports from China last year.China has sworn to retaliate at each step.European envoys say they have sensed a greater urgency from China since last year to find like-minded countries willing to stand up against Trump's "America First" policies.Indonesian villagers kill nearly 300 crocodiles in revenge attackChina's ambassador to the European Union, Zhang Ming, said in a commentary in the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily newspaper on Sunday that the focus of the meeting would be how China-EU relations could become a "standard of stability" amid the "din of unilateralism and protectionism".China and Europe are "two major forces of stability and responsibility" that support inclusive globalisation, Zhang said.But the world's largest trading bloc, while sharing Trump's concern over Chinese trade abuses if not his prescription of tariffs, has largely rebuffed efforts by China to pressure it into a strong stance against Trump.EU's Tusk calls on China, US, Russia not to start trade warsThere is deep scepticism in the EU about China's actual commitment to opening its market further, as well as concern that it seeks to divide the bloc with its economic influence in Eastern Europe.Nonetheless, European officials suggest that Trump, who has also targeted Europe with tariffs, has created a widow of opportunity to show that EU-China relations can be a bulwark for global trade.China and the EU are also expected to set up a working group on reforming the World Trade Organization during the talks.European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said on Friday that discussions with China would focus on "trade and investment, on the commitment to combating climate change and investing in clean energy and on foreign and security issues, including the situation on the Korean peninsula".Schinas said the two sides' leaders would also talk about their joint commitment to preserving the Iran nuclear deal.
China looks to get cozy with EU in annual talks as Trump tariffs bite
U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of Russia's Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline to Europe is an egregious example of unscrupulous competition and it worries Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Monday.Speaking shortly before Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin sit down together for a summit in the Finnish capital, Peskov also said discussions between the two on Syria would be difficult because of the U.S. stance on Iran, Russia's ally and a major player in the Syrian conflict.Russia's RIA news agency quoted Peskov as saying he hoped the Helsinki talks would represent some kind of step away from the current crisis in U.S.-Russian relations. Trump says Obama did nothing about Russian election meddling
Kremlin takes Trump to task over his gas pipeline comments
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Twitter post on Monday his predecessor, Barack Obama, paid little attention to FBI allegations of Russian election meddling and they were only taken seriously after he was elected."President Obama thought that Crooked Hillary was going to win the election, so when he was informed by the FBI about Russian Meddling, he said it couldn’t happen, was no big deal, & did NOTHING about it. When I won it became a big deal and the Rigged Witch Hunt headed by Strzok!" Trump wrote on Twitter.Trump was referring to Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival in the 2016 presidential election, and Peter Strzok, an FBI agent who criticised Trump during the campaign. 
Trump says Obama did nothing about Russian election meddling