Vladimir Putin dominates the Helsinki match against Donald Trump

A relationship on an equal footing is what Vladimir Putin seemed to have reaped from his talks with Donald Trump on Monday, July 16, at Helsinki, at the end of a tour in Europe marked by unprecedented exchanges with the allies of the United States. During the very friendly joint press conference held by the two presidents in the late afternoon, Putin described the talks with his counterpart of as "very successful and very useful" .

million. Trump, who had expressed at the beginning of the meeting his desire to reach "an extraordinary relationship" with Russia, agreed in this sense, to the point of devoting part of his intervention to a brutal criticism of his democratic opposition and the media, judged uniformly hostile to the rapprochement he called for. His congratulations to his interlocutor on the organization of the World Cup, which ended the day before, were paid in return by a copy of the official ball of the competition awarded by Vladimir Putin, the President of the States United States has promised to entrust his son Barron, great lover of the sport.

Precise, the president of the Russian Federation has especially listed, during this joint exercise, a long list of topics on which he expected improvement sensitive relations between two nuclear superpowers or even between two powers in the field of energy, as he also recalled, insisting, in his way, on this notion of equality. He pleaded every time for a deep cooperation on the fight against terrorism, the control of nuclear weapons, the situation in Syria or Crimea.

Vladimir Putin was the first to address the subject probably the most delicate between the two capitals: the interference imputed to Russia during the 2016 US presidential election. He coldly denied them before proposing, also on this point, a collaboration between Russia and the United States. Asked about it, Donald Trump gave the impression to abound in his sense by denouncing "a disaster" for his country. He preferred at length to dwell on the gray areas which, according to him, continue to surround the investigation at the expense of the Democrats, questioning himself as he had done during the campaign on e-mails of his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton

"Hunting witches"

A few hours ago, Donald Trump already showed a willingness to engage in a dialogue, which pushed him to point out anything that could hinder it. He has denounced with virulence, on his Twitter account, the "witch hunt faked" that constitutes, according to him, the investigation of the special prosecutor Robert Mueller.

Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been The Great Rigged Witch Hunt!

– realDonaldTrump (@Donald J. Trump)
   

Four days after the indictment of twelve Russian intelligence officials, the president of the United States said the investigation was partly responsible for the deterioration of relations with Moscow. "They have never been worse", he assured, adding that "years of stupidity and stupidity US" had also contributed. The Russian Foreign Ministry immediately shared this message with the commentary "We agree" . The day before, Mr. Trump had already insisted that these interferences occurred under "the Obama administration" questioned for his supposed passivity.

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          Trump's ambiguities with Putin
          

Since the announcement of these indictments, the White House has refrained from any form of criticism against Russia. A concern for appeasement on the eve of Monday's meeting, which has settled with the aggressiveness deployed by the US president against his allies since the beginning of his tour of Europe, July 10. This was to end after talks with the president of the Russian Federation.

"The European Union is an enemy"

Donald Trump has also returned to the charge Sunday against the European Union. "I think we have a lot of enemies. I think the European Union is an enemy, with what they do to us on trade. Of course, we would not think about the European Union, but it's an enemy " he assured the channel CBS.

During the same interview, he added that "Russia [était] an enemy by some aspects" a qualifier also used about China, presented as an "economic enemy" .

Read the historian's analysis Maya Kandel:
        
    
          "MM. Trump and Putin converge on an alternative vision of international relations »
          

Goodwill staged on Monday has left out details of Syria, even though Vladimir Putin mentioned the priority of a stabilization of the south of the country, which he said would benefit all neighboring countries. On the subject of Crimea, the Russian president spoke about the Minsk agreements, while inviting his counterpart to also use his influence on the Ukrainian government.

As Vladimir Putin said, the Russian side is committed to finding common ground on weapons, where litigation has accumulated. This is one of the topics that the Russian president has worked the most with his staff before leaving Moscow. The two delegations were to discuss the renewal of New Start, a nuclear arms reduction treaty signed by the two countries in 2010, which limits the number of nuclear warheads to 1,550. This treaty expires in 2021, but it can be extended for a period of five years. Another subject on the table is the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Deterrent Treaty, signed in 1987.

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                How Trump reigns nuclear deterrence
    

"Welcome to the land of freedom of the press"

In Helsinki, a press campaign preceded the arrival of the two leaders. Throughout the city, the billboards, on the initiative of the main Finnish daily, Helsingin Sanomat, displayed the same message in English and Russian, "Welcome, Mr. President, in the land of freedom of the press ". Impossible for the presidential processions not to see them.

Sunday, more than a thousand people protested against the two presidents,
federated around the same banner, "Make Human Rights Great Again – pastiche of Donald Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again". Another small procession marched Monday in the Finnish capital at a safe distance from the secure perimeter established around the presidential palace.

Ukrainians and Russians from St. Petersburg made common cause Sunday to demand the release of the Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, sentenced to twenty years in prison colony in Russia for "terrorism" and today on hunger strike for more than sixty days. The American Pen Club was not left out, with a large banner bearing the same claim.

At this festive and colorful gathering, animated in the heart of the Finnish capital with a concert, many signs « No to dictators " were brandished, the participants making no difference between the two leaders. A "No to the separation of families" targeted the migration policy of Donald Trump, while a "Troll factory no" alluded to interference with Russian hackers in the western elections.