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‘True friends’

Jul 14,2018 - Last updated at Jul 14,2018

US President Donald Trump summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday brings two mighty global leaders on the opposite ends of the geopolitical and psychological discipline scale together under one roof.

While Trump has already established a long standing record of chaotic and unorthodox policy statements and stances on both national and international issues, Putin has amply demonstrated an extreme sense of political discipline and clarity of thought, vision and predictability.

Putin knows what he wants for his nation and is determined to get it, come what may. He does not allow anything to stand in his way, neither international law nor public opinion. No wavering, no hesitation and no fumbling along the way. This is not necessarily true of Trump. Judging by his often contemptuous, incoherent and inconsistent stances, the world is never sure what to expect of him next, good or bad.

Against this backdrop, what do the two leaders want from one another and what is the probability of getting it?

President Trump is sure to raise the issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections simply because he is politically expected to do so. Putin would most probably give Trump the necessary dosage of rhetorical assurances that Moscow has not and will never intervene in US elections.

Yet, there are other issues on the summit's agenda. The Russian annexation of Crimea is not on the agenda as far as Putin is concerned and raising it now is simply a nonstarter.

Of course, the two leaders would talk about arms control and Syria. With the Syrian conflict now "finished” on Putin's terms, not much can be agreed upon between the two leaders. Trump is mostly concerned about the presence of Iran in Syria and may succeed in getting Russian assurances that the Iranian days in Syria are numbered. On arms control, most probably the two leaders would delegate this never ending issue to their respective experts to deal with.

What is perhaps most important of all to emerge from the summit is Trump and Putin as true friends. Trump has already referred to Putin as a friend and not a leader to fear. Putin may pretend to feel the same about Trump!

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