Trump Tempers Expectations Ahead of US-Russia Summit

Ahead of Friday's summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the US for making "quite energetic and sincere efforts" to stop the fighting in Ukraine. Putin expressed willingness to start work on a new arms control treaty, saying an agreement can "create long-term conditions for peace" between the US and Russia.

Trump, though, has sought to dial back hopes for a breakthrough, stung in part by a meeting with Putin during his first term that was seen as an embarrassment for the US president. Trump at that gathering, standing alongside Putin, indicated that he believed the Russian leader’s claims that Moscow did not seek to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election — remarks which drew bipartisan ire in Washington. That spectacle has loomed over the upcoming summit. And the announcement of the talks — without the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy — left Kyiv’s allies alarmed. Those countries have expressed concern that the US president — who has said an eventual deal would include territorial exchanges — could unilaterally agree to peace terms proposed by Putin that would disadvantage Ukraine and undermine the continent’s security.

All week, Trump and senior officials have moved to temper expectations, with the president describing the summit as a “feel-out” meeting. In an interview on the Brian Kilmeade Show on Thursday, Trump said he foresaw “a 25% chance” that his coming sit-down with Putin would “not be a successful meeting,” and again stressed that he saw it as a precursor to a second, more important gathering.

Trump at a White House event later Thursday suggested that some allied nations could participate in the second meeting and that it may also take place in Alaska. Trump also signaled optimism for the talks, even as he warned they were merely a first step.

“I think President Putin will make peace. I think President Zelenskiy will make peace. We’ll see if they can get along, and if they can, it’ll be great,” Trump said.

Jennifer Welch, Chief Geoeconomics Analyst for Bloomberg Economics, provides her expectations for the meeting. She speaks with Bloomberg's Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Businessweek Daily.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to strengthen his rapport with Donald Trump ahead of their summit, praising the US leader’s efforts to broker an end to the war in Ukraine and dangling the promise of economic cooperation as well as a new arms control treaty.

The charm offensive from Putin, before he arrives on US soil for a face-to-face sit-down on Friday with the American president, sought to minimize the war — Europe’s deadliest conflict in decades — as a mere detail on the way to revitalizing ties between Washington and Moscow.

Putin highlighted issues that are a focus for Trump, who envisions himself as the dealmaker-in-chief and wants to be known as a “peacemaker” even as the US president downplayed expectations that the summit will deliver on his pledge of bringing a swift end to Russia’s war.

Putin praised the US for making “quite energetic and sincere efforts” to stop the fighting in Ukraine at a Kremlin meeting Thursday with senior officials. And he added that he was willing to start work on a new arms control treaty, saying an agreement on the control of strategic offensive weapons can “create long-term conditions for peace between our countries and in Europe and in the world as a whole.”

Putin tried to press Trump during his first presidential term to agree to an arms deal but had little success. While Russia has been open to resuming nuclear talks with the US since last year, officials said in June that worsening relations with the US had led to fading chances for a new pact to replace the last such treaty with the US, which expires early next year.

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