The 2018 Russia–United States Summit (also known as the 2018 Helsinki Summit or the Trump–Putin Summit in Helsinki) was a summit meeting between United States president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin on 16 July 2018, in Helsinki, Finland. The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs officially titled the summit as the #HELSINKI2018 Meeting and it was hosted by the president of Finland, Sauli Niinistö.
During a post-summit joint press conference with Putin, Trump did not accept Russian interference was part of the 2016 U.S. elections. Trump's omissions provoked an uproar across the political spectrum, including from some of his usual allies. One day later, Trump amended part of his remarks, contending that he had misspoken due to an incorrectly perceived "double-negative".
Although the proceedings of the summit were orderly and diplomatic, both Trump and Putin were received poorly by both sides of the political spectrum in the United States, with some commentators saying that the summit became the event where Putin "cemented his status, and the status of his country, as public enemy #1 in America," ushering in the lowest point of Russia–United States relations since the early 1980s.
History
Helsinki previously served as the location for the signing of the Helsinki Accords in 1975, following a series of meetings intended to reduce tensions between the Western and Soviet blocs during the Cold War. The U.S. national security advisor John R. Bolton met with Putin on 27 June to discuss the details of the summit and other bilateral issues. On 28 June, the location of the summit was announced by the White House and the Kremlin to be Helsinki.
Background
The summit was officially called the #HELSINKI2018 Meeting by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was hosted by the president of Finland Sauli Niinistö. The summit took place in the Presidential Palace and marked the first official meeting between the leaders after previous unofficial talks between Trump and Putin at the G20 Hamburg and APEC Vietnam summits held in 2017. Topics Trump announced to be discussed at the summit included the situations in Syria and Ukraine. The United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo met his Russian and Finnish counterparts Sergey Lavrov and Timo Soini.
Niinistö held bilateral meetings with both presidents on the day of the summit. That morning, Niinistö and Finnish First Lady Jenni Haukio welcomed Trump and U.S. First Lady Melania Trump at their main official residence in Mäntyniemi. During the presidents' meeting, the two women met for a joint breakfast.
The meeting began at the Presidential Palace at approximately 1 pm with Niinistö officially welcoming Putin, followed by Trump. The bilateral discussions between the American and Russian presidents took place in the Presidential Palace's Gothic Hall; Trump and Putin met with only interpreters present. Their meeting was followed by a working lunch including additional officials in the Hall of Mirrors.
NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said they welcomed Trump's planned meeting with Vladimir Putin.
On 13 July, three days before the summit, Rod Rosenstein, the United States Deputy Attorney General, announced indictments of 12 Russian GRU officers for their efforts in the 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak, through the establishment of false identities as DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0, as well as charges of money laundering using bitcoin. The timing of these indictments led to closer scrutiny of the upcoming meeting and pressure for Trump to discuss election meddling with Putin. Bloomberg News reported the day after the summit that Trump permitted the indictments to be announced prior to the summit hoping it would strengthen his position in negotiations with Putin.
Two days before the scheduled meeting, a group of top Senate Democrats urged Trump to not meet with Putin one-on-one. Signers of a letter advising him not to meet alone with Putin included Minority Leader Charles Schumer, Minority Whip Dick Durbin, and the top Democrats on the Senate Intelligence (Mark Warner), Foreign Relations (Bob Menendez), Judiciary (Dianne Feinstein), Armed Services (Jack Reed), Appropriations (Patrick Leahy), and Banking (Sherrod Brown) committees.
During an interview on the eve of the summit with CBS News, Trump was asked who America's biggest foe is. He said Russia is "a foe in certain aspects" and called the European Union the biggest trade foe of the United States. Trump tweeted on the morning of the summit that the relationship between Russia and the U.S. has "never been worse". He blamed this on "foolishness and stupidity" on the part of the U.S., and referenced the ongoing Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections, calling it a "witch hunt". The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs retweeted Trump's message, adding "We agree". Trump also indicated his inclination to accept Putin's denial of Russian interference, saying "President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be."
Demonstrations
According to the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle, more than 10 demonstrations were planned for the summit. On Sunday 15 July, about 2,500 protesters gathered for the "Helsinki Calling" pro-human rights demonstration at the Helsinki Senate Square. Simultaneously, the youth section of the nationalist Finns Party staged a pro-Trump rally. The "Welcome Trump" event gathered a crowd of 50 people including Finns Party youth and Soldiers of Odin members.
More demonstrations were planned for Monday 16 July, including the "Stop Putin" and "Helsinki against Trump and Putin" rallies and protests for women's rights, Afghanistan and against Russophobia. The youth section of the right-wing National Coalition Party said they would hold a demonstration against President Trump's trade policy and Russia's annexation of Crimea.
On the day of the summit, large crowds gathered in Helsinki city center to see the heads of states proceeding to and out of the presidential palace in their vehicles.
Delegations
United States delegation
Russian delegation
Private meeting
Trump and Putin met privately without aides or note-takers, accompanied only by a single Russian-provided interpreter. There were no U.S. personnel in attendance at the meeting. The meeting had been scheduled for 90 minutes but lasted two hours. The private meeting was followed by a working lunch that included senior advisors.
Topics discussed
No agenda was published for their discussion, and no communique was issued afterward. Some issues were touched on at the press conference. In the following days Russia issued multiple statements about what it said were agreements made at the summit, "shaping a narrative of the meeting with no confirmation or alternative account from the Trump administration."
In the press conference immediately following the meeting, both leaders described some of their positions. On the question of the Syrian civil war, Trump wanted Iranian troops to leave Syria, while Putin would not commit to their departure. Both agreed that Iranian troops should be kept away from the Israel-Syria border, with Trump noting that "Creating safety for Israel is something both Putin and I would like to see very much." Trump said he is willing to help Syria with humanitarian aid, even if there is no wider peace settlement.
That may contradict the earlier Trump administration position that it will not provide reconstruction assistance to any part of Syria that remains under the control of Bashar al-Assad, whom Russia backs. The Russian ambassador to the U.S. later said that Syria had been the major topic of discussion, along with "the removal of the concerns that the United States has regarding the well-known claims about alleged interference in the elections". Four days after the meeting, a Russian military spokesman said Russia has sent formal proposals for a joint U.S.-Russian effort to reconstruct Syria and facilitate the return home of Syrian refugees.
In a Fox News interview the next day, Putin indicated that the two had agreed to disagree about Crimea. Putin said he wanted acceptance of the disputed 2014 referendum in which Crimeans voted to become part of Russia, and insisted that Ukraine must never become part of NATO. He said they had agreed to hold talks on extension of the START treaty, which expires in 2021, but he wants to see evidence that the U.S. has lived up to the terms of the treaty. He also wants to negotiate on the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Treaty.
The day after the meeting, a Russian military spokesman said that Russia is "ready for practical implementation of the agreements reached between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in the sphere of international security achieved at the Helsinki summit." His statement said the agreements include cooperation in Syria and discussions about extending the START Treaty. No agreements were announced at the summit, and White House and Pentagon spokesmen said they were not aware of any new agreements.
A spokesman for the National Security Council said "As President Trump stated, the two sides agreed that their national security council staffs will follow up on the presidents' meetings, and these discussions are underway. There were no commitments to undertake any concrete action, beyond agreement that both sides should continue discussions." The spokesman said they are also reviewing suggestions by Putin for a "cyber-group" and an anti-terrorism group.
At a press conference four days after the summit, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats stated, "I'm not in a position to either understand fully or talk about what happened in Helsinki," and ceded the podium to national security advisor John Bolton, who explained that the issue of election interference was discussed. Despite this, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer remarked, "It is utterly amazing, utterly amazing, that no one knows what was said." Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Representative Bill Pascrell called for Trump's interpreter, Marina Gross, to testify before Congress, while House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff called for her to testify to the Committee in closed session.
Press conference
After the private meeting and the working lunch, Trump and Putin gave a joint press conference. When Trump was asked whether he would condemn Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, he demurred, saying that Putin had denied it.
JONATHAN LEMIRE, ASSOCIATED PRESS: President Trump, you first. Just now, President Putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. Every U.S. intelligence agency has concluded that Russia did. My first question for you sir is, who do you believe? My second question is would you now, with the whole world watching, tell President Putin, would you denounce what happened in 2016 and would you want him to never do it again?
TRUMP: So let me just say that we have two thoughts. You have groups that are wondering why the FBI never took the server. Why haven't they taken the server? Why was the FBI told to leave the office of the Democratic National Committee?
I've been wondering that. I've been asking that for months and months and I've been tweeting it out and calling it out on social media. Where is the server? I want to know where is the server and what is the server saying?
With that being said, all I can do is ask the question.
My people came to me, Dan Coats, came to me and some others they said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia.
I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be. But I really do want to see the server but I have, I have confidence in both parties.
[...]
I have great confidence in my intelligence people but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today and what he did is an incredible offer.
He offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigators, with respect to the 12 people. I think that's an incredible offer. Ok? Thank you.