July 18, 2018
MH17 victims' father condemns Trump over Russian 'lie'
Anthony Maslin's children Evie, Mo and Otis died when MH17 was shot down
The father of three Australian children killed when a Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down has delivered a scathing attack on Donald Trump over his attitude to Russia.
Anthony Maslin's children were among 298 people who died when flight MH17 was downed over Ukraine in 2014.
Investigators found that Russia was responsible for the missile used in the strike - a conclusion denied by Moscow.
Mr Maslin has taken aim at the US president over Russia's "lie".
Earlier this week, Mr Trump declined to accept US intelligence agencies' conclusion that Moscow had meddled in the 2016 presidential election. He has since reversed his remarks following widespread anger.
The controversy coincided with the fourth anniversary of the MH17 tragedy.
Russia 'liable' for downing airliner
Empty chair protest marks MH17 dead
Baby joy for couple who lost children
In a Facebook post addressed to the US president, Mr Maslin called on Mr Trump to eschew talk of "fake news" in favour of "irrefutable facts".
"That passenger flight MH17 was shot out of the sky and 298 innocent people were murdered is an irrefutable fact," he wrote alongside a photo of his children Mo, Evie and Otis.
"That the plane was hit by a Russian missile has been proven to be an irrefutable fact.
"That this killed our 3 beautiful children and their grandfather, and destroyed our life and many other lives in the process, is an irrefutable fact."
He added: "That the man whose arse you've just been kissing did this, and continues to lie about it, is an irrefutable fact."
Russia has always insisted it played no part whatsoever in the downing of MH17.
Investigators say the missile which struck MH17 came from Russia
The victims of MH17 included 193 Dutch nationals, 43 people from Malaysia, and 27 from Australia. Others on board came from countries including Indonesia, the UK, Belgium, Germany and the Philippines.
In May, Australia and the Netherlands said they held Russia responsible for the shooting down of the plane, which had been en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
The US, EU, Nato and the UK added their own calls for Russia to accept responsibility for the incident.
On Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described Mr Trump as an "American patriot" who was doing his best for the US.
However, Mr Turnbull reiterated that he did not believe Russia's stance on MH17.
"I certainly don't trust Vladimir Putin when he says he or the Russian Army had nothing to do with the downing of MH17," he told News Corp Australia.
His government has said it will continue to press Russia to take responsibility for the tragedy.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Trump Putin: US president reverses remark on Russia meddling - BBC News
July, 18, 2018
Trump Putin: US president reverses remark on Russia meddling
Trump sheds light on his crucial error at Putin summit
US President Donald Trump has said he accepts US intelligence agencies' conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election - despite declining to do so just a day ago.
He said he had misspoken on Monday and had meant to say he saw no reason why it was not Russia that meddled.
The original comments, after he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, drew a barrage of criticism.
Even some of Mr Trump's allies had urged him to clarify his stance.
Your toolkit to help understand the story
Trump's 'most serious mistake'
In his latest remarks, he added that he had "full faith and support" in US intelligence agencies.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to appear before Congress next week to answer questions on what happened during Mr Trump's two-hour meeting with President Putin on Monday.
Damage done
By the BBC's Anthony Zurcher in Washington
Does Donald Trump believe in ominous metaphors? As he affirmed his support for US intelligence agencies, the lights went to black in the White House conference room.
Once order was restored, he said he had been in the dark as to why a storm had swirled around his presidency since his Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin. It was, he said, because he had misspoken.
That is going to be hard for many of the president's critics to swallow, however. Even if he did mean to say, "I don't see a reason why it wouldn't be Russia", it is a pretty weak way to confront the head of a nation accused of targeting the heart of American democracy.
What is more, the context of the president's comments make a simple slip of the tongue seem less likely.
At the very least, the president gave his supporters some material to rally around.
The damage, however, has been done. Mr Trump can give as many White House statements as he likes, but on the biggest stage - standing beside the Russian president - he fumbled. All the explanations cannot change that.
What Trump said then...
The controversy centres on a response he gave to a question at a news conference on Monday following the summit with Mr Putin.
This is an extract from the transcript posted by the White House.
REPORTER: President Putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. Every US intelligence agency has concluded that Russia did. My first question for you, sir, is, who do you believe?
Schwarzenegger calls Trump a 'wet noodle'
'Double negative' is not not trending
TRUMP: My people came to me... 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.
.... what he says now
Mr Trump said he had reviewed the transcript and realised he needed to clarify.
"In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't," he said.
"The sentence should have been: 'I don't see any reason why I wouldn't' or 'why it wouldn't be Russia'. Sort of a double negative."
The US president added: "I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. A lot of people out there."
Media captionThe ways Trump and Putin see eye to eye
Mr Trump said that the interference had had no impact on the election, in which he defeated Hillary Clinton.
However, he did not respond when reporters asked him if he would condemn Mr Putin.
During the press conference with President Putin - in the same answer as the transcript above - Mr Trump went on to say: "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."
How great is the outrage?
Chuck Schumer, leader of the opposition Democrats in the Senate, said Mr Trump's retraction of his previous comments was a sign of weakness.
"He made a horrible statement, tried to back off, but couldn't even bring himself to back off," he told the Senate. "It shows the weakness of President Trump that he is afraid to confront Mr Putin directly."
July, 18, 2018
Steve Rosenberg
✔
@BBCSteveR
Even the Russian press is stunned by Donald Trump's performance in Helsinki. One paper today is shocked that, in Putin's presence, Trump "publicly expressed a lack of trust in his own intelligence agencies. You don't do things like that. He'll pay a high political price."
Republicans and Democrats alike were dumbfounded that Mr Trump had sided with Russia over his own intelligence officials after Monday's summit.
The US and Russia have been long-term adversaries and remain far apart on major issues. Some lawmakers were also upset that Mr Trump had refused to offer specific criticisms of Russia and Mr Putin, instead saying both countries were responsible for poor relations.
Even one of his most loyal Republican supporters, Newt Gingrich, said the comments were the "most serious mistake of his presidency".
House Republican Mike Turner accused Mr Trump of having damaged American foreign policy by failing to take Russia to task.
"He's given them a pass and is certainly not holding them accountable for what they're doing," he added.
Trump Putin: US president reverses remark on Russia meddling
Trump sheds light on his crucial error at Putin summit
US President Donald Trump has said he accepts US intelligence agencies' conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election - despite declining to do so just a day ago.
He said he had misspoken on Monday and had meant to say he saw no reason why it was not Russia that meddled.
The original comments, after he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, drew a barrage of criticism.
Even some of Mr Trump's allies had urged him to clarify his stance.
Your toolkit to help understand the story
Trump's 'most serious mistake'
In his latest remarks, he added that he had "full faith and support" in US intelligence agencies.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to appear before Congress next week to answer questions on what happened during Mr Trump's two-hour meeting with President Putin on Monday.
Damage done
By the BBC's Anthony Zurcher in Washington
Does Donald Trump believe in ominous metaphors? As he affirmed his support for US intelligence agencies, the lights went to black in the White House conference room.
Once order was restored, he said he had been in the dark as to why a storm had swirled around his presidency since his Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin. It was, he said, because he had misspoken.
That is going to be hard for many of the president's critics to swallow, however. Even if he did mean to say, "I don't see a reason why it wouldn't be Russia", it is a pretty weak way to confront the head of a nation accused of targeting the heart of American democracy.
What is more, the context of the president's comments make a simple slip of the tongue seem less likely.
At the very least, the president gave his supporters some material to rally around.
The damage, however, has been done. Mr Trump can give as many White House statements as he likes, but on the biggest stage - standing beside the Russian president - he fumbled. All the explanations cannot change that.
What Trump said then...
The controversy centres on a response he gave to a question at a news conference on Monday following the summit with Mr Putin.
This is an extract from the transcript posted by the White House.
REPORTER: President Putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. Every US intelligence agency has concluded that Russia did. My first question for you, sir, is, who do you believe?
Schwarzenegger calls Trump a 'wet noodle'
'Double negative' is not not trending
TRUMP: My people came to me... 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.
.... what he says now
Mr Trump said he had reviewed the transcript and realised he needed to clarify.
"In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't," he said.
"The sentence should have been: 'I don't see any reason why I wouldn't' or 'why it wouldn't be Russia'. Sort of a double negative."
The US president added: "I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. A lot of people out there."
Media captionThe ways Trump and Putin see eye to eye
Mr Trump said that the interference had had no impact on the election, in which he defeated Hillary Clinton.
However, he did not respond when reporters asked him if he would condemn Mr Putin.
During the press conference with President Putin - in the same answer as the transcript above - Mr Trump went on to say: "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."
How great is the outrage?
Chuck Schumer, leader of the opposition Democrats in the Senate, said Mr Trump's retraction of his previous comments was a sign of weakness.
"He made a horrible statement, tried to back off, but couldn't even bring himself to back off," he told the Senate. "It shows the weakness of President Trump that he is afraid to confront Mr Putin directly."
July, 18, 2018
Steve Rosenberg
✔
@BBCSteveR
Even the Russian press is stunned by Donald Trump's performance in Helsinki. One paper today is shocked that, in Putin's presence, Trump "publicly expressed a lack of trust in his own intelligence agencies. You don't do things like that. He'll pay a high political price."
Republicans and Democrats alike were dumbfounded that Mr Trump had sided with Russia over his own intelligence officials after Monday's summit.
The US and Russia have been long-term adversaries and remain far apart on major issues. Some lawmakers were also upset that Mr Trump had refused to offer specific criticisms of Russia and Mr Putin, instead saying both countries were responsible for poor relations.
Even one of his most loyal Republican supporters, Newt Gingrich, said the comments were the "most serious mistake of his presidency".
House Republican Mike Turner accused Mr Trump of having damaged American foreign policy by failing to take Russia to task.
"He's given them a pass and is certainly not holding them accountable for what they're doing," he added.
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Donald Trump is cosying up to Vladimir Putin while cutting off Europe – we should be scared - Independent
July 17, 2018
Donald Trump is cosying up to Vladimir Putin while cutting off Europe – we should be scared
The US president has blamed bad relations with Russia on the investigation into the Kremlin’s interference in the US election, rather than the interference itself
Kim Sengupta
See what happened when Americans were asked to name countries on a map
Tim Cahill retires from international football at the age of 38
Tourist beaches in Mallorca and Menorca hit by 'meteotsunamis'
Car sales rose across the EU but fell in the UK
The most important and critical time in American foreign policy since the coming of the Trump administration has been unfolding over the last month with Vladimir Putin emerging as the clear and undisputed winner. Unfailingly and relentlessly, the actions and words of the president of the United States have weakened his Western allies while strengthening Russia.
What emerged at the Helsinki summit further illustrated the Russian leader’s winning position. He had, he said openly at their joint press conference, wanted Trump to win the US presidential election over Hillary Clinton, something he has now achieved. Trump, asked directly whether he believed his own country’s intelligence services, who have repeatedly accused the Kremlin of interfering in the election, or Putin, who denies this was the case, responded: “President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see why it should be. President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial...”
Putin was directly asked whether the Kremlin has compromising material, “kompromat”, on Trump and prostitutes as has long been rumoured and claimed in one of the more salacious sections of former MI6 officer Christopher Steele’s dossier. The Russian leader answered: “I did hear these rumours. When President Trump visited Moscow back then, I didn’t even know he was in Moscow... Nobody informed me that he was in Moscow... Please disregard these issues.” The Russian president had the perfect opportunity to deny having embarrassing secrets about Trump: he failed to do so.
Trump, in his industrial size outpouring of tweets, has insulted and attacked people around the world. But the one person he has been extremely careful not to criticise is Putin. In fact, in his 18 months in office, Trump has praised the Russian leader 11 times publicly and there had been numerous other compliments before the election, when he was seeking business deals with Russia.
This has led, understandably, to Trump’s suspicious critics asking: “Just why is The Donald so afraid of offending Putin?” Nothing which came out of Helsinki dispelled those suspicions. The question was repeated by the Democrat senator Nancy Pelosi in the aftermath of the summit: “Seriously what does Putin have on Trump that he’s so afraid?” the senator asked.
Putin said he ‘told Trump several times’ he did not interfere in vote
Trump’s display at the press conference led to shock and anger in the US. John Brennan, the former CIA director, tweeted “Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to and exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes and misdemeanours’. It was nothing sort of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican patriots: where are you???”
One of those Republicans, Lindsay Graham, held that Trump’s failure to hold Moscow accountable for election interference and seemingly absolving them “will be seen by Russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it solves”. The senator, who has turned from being a fierce Trump critic to cosying up to him, also suggested that a football Putin presented to the US president should be “checked for listening devices and never allowed into the White House”.
Another Republican senator, Jeff Flake, tweeted: “I never thought I would see the day when our American president would stand on the stage with the Russian president and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression. This is shameful.”
Trump had held his meeting with Putin days after Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 officers from the Russian military intelligence service, GRU, over attempts to suborn the election. The GRU or its former officers, it is claimed, may also have been responsible for the Salisbury novichok attack.
Donald Trump has virtually become Russia’s agent
The British government, it should be stressed has yet to put forward prosecutable evidence to back up this allegation. But we were told by Downing Street officials that Theresa May had asked Trump to raise the novichok issue with Putin. American officials were unaware that the president had done so.
But there should not have been that much of a surprise at Trump’s posture. Helsinki was the last leg in his three-point journey, one which he has stressed will be the easiest for him and most looked forward to. En route he had done his utmost to destabilise Nato at Brussels and then, in Britain, undermine Theresa May’s premiership.
The US president has called the European Union a "foe" and blamed bad relations with Russia on the investigation into the Kremlin’s interference in the US election, rather than the interference itself. And all this has happened after asking that Russia, expelled from the G7 over the annexation of Crimea, be allowed to rejoin the group, and pressurising Emmanuel Macron for France to leave the European Union.
It had been forecast ever since Trump’s unexpected election victory that he would try to shape a new world order. A combination of senior administration officials and the Republican Party hierarchy had so far stayed his hand. But now, with most of the moderate voices gone from the White House in its extraordinary churn, and the Republican Party being moulded to his image rather than the other way around, Trump is now free to pursue his aims.
A history of tense meetings between US and Russian presidents
Some of America’s European allies are now resigned to the changing status quo. Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister, complained about the US president’s “sharp verbal attacks” and “absurd tweets” and acknowledged “we can no longer completely rely on the White House”. European Council president Donald Tusk claimed Trump was spreading “fake news” by saying the European Union was a foe.
Trump’s regular attacks on Western allies, Nato and the European Union, and lack of criticism of the Kremlin has surprised even Russian analysts. “We are witnessing something surprising, something even the Soviet Union was not able to accomplish – divide the US and Western Europe”, Tatyana Parkhalina, president of the Russian Association for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation pointed out in a Russian state TV show. “It didn’t work then, but it seems to be working with Trump now.”
As the summit began the Kremlin run television channel, Rossiya 1, described the Helsinki summit as the “main political event” of the year, maintaining “the show is over. Now the work begins. After all he was just passing through Brussels and London on his way to Helsinki.”
But Trump was not just passing through Brussels and London, he was wreaking deliberate havoc on the way. The meeting with Putin may well have been the main political event of the journey, and maybe it is indeed the case that “now the work begins”. It is the nature of that work which will be of worry to America’s Western allies as they find themselves pushed away by the US president.
Donald Trump is cosying up to Vladimir Putin while cutting off Europe – we should be scared
The US president has blamed bad relations with Russia on the investigation into the Kremlin’s interference in the US election, rather than the interference itself
Kim Sengupta
See what happened when Americans were asked to name countries on a map
Tim Cahill retires from international football at the age of 38
Tourist beaches in Mallorca and Menorca hit by 'meteotsunamis'
Car sales rose across the EU but fell in the UK
The most important and critical time in American foreign policy since the coming of the Trump administration has been unfolding over the last month with Vladimir Putin emerging as the clear and undisputed winner. Unfailingly and relentlessly, the actions and words of the president of the United States have weakened his Western allies while strengthening Russia.
What emerged at the Helsinki summit further illustrated the Russian leader’s winning position. He had, he said openly at their joint press conference, wanted Trump to win the US presidential election over Hillary Clinton, something he has now achieved. Trump, asked directly whether he believed his own country’s intelligence services, who have repeatedly accused the Kremlin of interfering in the election, or Putin, who denies this was the case, responded: “President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see why it should be. President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial...”
Putin was directly asked whether the Kremlin has compromising material, “kompromat”, on Trump and prostitutes as has long been rumoured and claimed in one of the more salacious sections of former MI6 officer Christopher Steele’s dossier. The Russian leader answered: “I did hear these rumours. When President Trump visited Moscow back then, I didn’t even know he was in Moscow... Nobody informed me that he was in Moscow... Please disregard these issues.” The Russian president had the perfect opportunity to deny having embarrassing secrets about Trump: he failed to do so.
Trump, in his industrial size outpouring of tweets, has insulted and attacked people around the world. But the one person he has been extremely careful not to criticise is Putin. In fact, in his 18 months in office, Trump has praised the Russian leader 11 times publicly and there had been numerous other compliments before the election, when he was seeking business deals with Russia.
This has led, understandably, to Trump’s suspicious critics asking: “Just why is The Donald so afraid of offending Putin?” Nothing which came out of Helsinki dispelled those suspicions. The question was repeated by the Democrat senator Nancy Pelosi in the aftermath of the summit: “Seriously what does Putin have on Trump that he’s so afraid?” the senator asked.
Putin said he ‘told Trump several times’ he did not interfere in vote
Trump’s display at the press conference led to shock and anger in the US. John Brennan, the former CIA director, tweeted “Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to and exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes and misdemeanours’. It was nothing sort of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican patriots: where are you???”
One of those Republicans, Lindsay Graham, held that Trump’s failure to hold Moscow accountable for election interference and seemingly absolving them “will be seen by Russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it solves”. The senator, who has turned from being a fierce Trump critic to cosying up to him, also suggested that a football Putin presented to the US president should be “checked for listening devices and never allowed into the White House”.
Another Republican senator, Jeff Flake, tweeted: “I never thought I would see the day when our American president would stand on the stage with the Russian president and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression. This is shameful.”
Trump had held his meeting with Putin days after Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 officers from the Russian military intelligence service, GRU, over attempts to suborn the election. The GRU or its former officers, it is claimed, may also have been responsible for the Salisbury novichok attack.
Donald Trump has virtually become Russia’s agent
The British government, it should be stressed has yet to put forward prosecutable evidence to back up this allegation. But we were told by Downing Street officials that Theresa May had asked Trump to raise the novichok issue with Putin. American officials were unaware that the president had done so.
But there should not have been that much of a surprise at Trump’s posture. Helsinki was the last leg in his three-point journey, one which he has stressed will be the easiest for him and most looked forward to. En route he had done his utmost to destabilise Nato at Brussels and then, in Britain, undermine Theresa May’s premiership.
The US president has called the European Union a "foe" and blamed bad relations with Russia on the investigation into the Kremlin’s interference in the US election, rather than the interference itself. And all this has happened after asking that Russia, expelled from the G7 over the annexation of Crimea, be allowed to rejoin the group, and pressurising Emmanuel Macron for France to leave the European Union.
It had been forecast ever since Trump’s unexpected election victory that he would try to shape a new world order. A combination of senior administration officials and the Republican Party hierarchy had so far stayed his hand. But now, with most of the moderate voices gone from the White House in its extraordinary churn, and the Republican Party being moulded to his image rather than the other way around, Trump is now free to pursue his aims.
A history of tense meetings between US and Russian presidents
Some of America’s European allies are now resigned to the changing status quo. Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister, complained about the US president’s “sharp verbal attacks” and “absurd tweets” and acknowledged “we can no longer completely rely on the White House”. European Council president Donald Tusk claimed Trump was spreading “fake news” by saying the European Union was a foe.
Trump’s regular attacks on Western allies, Nato and the European Union, and lack of criticism of the Kremlin has surprised even Russian analysts. “We are witnessing something surprising, something even the Soviet Union was not able to accomplish – divide the US and Western Europe”, Tatyana Parkhalina, president of the Russian Association for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation pointed out in a Russian state TV show. “It didn’t work then, but it seems to be working with Trump now.”
As the summit began the Kremlin run television channel, Rossiya 1, described the Helsinki summit as the “main political event” of the year, maintaining “the show is over. Now the work begins. After all he was just passing through Brussels and London on his way to Helsinki.”
But Trump was not just passing through Brussels and London, he was wreaking deliberate havoc on the way. The meeting with Putin may well have been the main political event of the journey, and maybe it is indeed the case that “now the work begins”. It is the nature of that work which will be of worry to America’s Western allies as they find themselves pushed away by the US president.
Japan, EU sign trade deal to eliminate nearly all tariffs - CNBC News
July 17, 2018
Japan, EU sign trade deal to eliminate nearly all tariffs
The EU-Japan pact runs counter to President Donald Trump’s moves to hike tariffs on imports from many U.S. trading partners.
European Council President Donald Tusk praised the deal as “the largest bilateral trade deal ever.”
The measures will bring Japanese consumers lower prices for European wines, pork, handbags and pharmaceuticals.
The Associated Press
Koji Sasahara
The European Union and Japan signed a landmark deal on Tuesday that will eliminate nearly all tariffs on products they trade.
The ambitious pact signed in Tokyo runs counter to President Donald Trump’s moves to hike tariffs on imports from many U.S. trading partners. It covers a third of the global economy and markets of more than 600 million people.
“The EU and Japan showed an undeterred determination to lead the world as flag-bearers for free trade,” Abe said at a joint news conference with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Tusk praised the deal as “the largest bilateral trade deal ever.” He said the partnership is being strengthened in various other areas, including defense, climate change and human exchange, and is “sending a clear message” against protectionism.
The leaders did not mention Trump by name, but they did little to mask what was on their minds — highlighting how Europe and Japan have been pushed closer by Trump’s actions.
The agreement was largely reached late last year. The ceremonial signing was delayed from earlier this month because Abe canceled going to Brussels over a disaster in southwestern Japan, caused by extremely heavy rainfall. More than 200 people died from flooding and landslides.
The measures won’t kick in right away and still require legislative approval. But they will bring Japanese consumers lower prices for European wines, pork, handbags and pharmaceuticals. Japanese machinery parts, tea and fish will become cheaper in Europe.
The deal eliminates about 99 percent of the tariffs on Japanese goods sold to the EU. About 94 percent of the tariffs on European exports to Japan will be lifted, rising to 99 percent in the future. The difference reflects exceptions on such products as rice, which enjoys strong political protection from imports in Japan.
Overall, European farmers will benefit, Juncker said, though European consumers will be able to more easily buy luscious Kobe beef and famous Yubari melons.
The EU said the trade liberalization will help raise European exports of chemicals, clothing, cosmetics and beer to Japan. Japanese will get cheaper cheeses, such as Parmesan, gouda and cheddar, as well as chocolate and biscuits.
The imported wine and cheese could hurt sales by Japanese wineries and dairies, but Japanese consumers have historically coveted such European products.
The major step toward liberalizing trade has been discussed since 2013.
Apart from its deal with the EU, Japan is working on other trade agreements, including a far-reaching trans-Pacific deal. The partnership includes Australia, Mexico, Vietnam and other nations, although the U.S. has withdrawn.
Abe praised the deal with the EU for helping his “Abenomics” policies, designed to wrest the economy out of stagnation despite a shrinking population and cautious spending. Japan’s growth remains heavily dependent on exports.
Japan, EU sign trade deal to eliminate nearly all tariffs
The EU-Japan pact runs counter to President Donald Trump’s moves to hike tariffs on imports from many U.S. trading partners.
European Council President Donald Tusk praised the deal as “the largest bilateral trade deal ever.”
The measures will bring Japanese consumers lower prices for European wines, pork, handbags and pharmaceuticals.
The Associated Press
Koji Sasahara
The European Union and Japan signed a landmark deal on Tuesday that will eliminate nearly all tariffs on products they trade.
The ambitious pact signed in Tokyo runs counter to President Donald Trump’s moves to hike tariffs on imports from many U.S. trading partners. It covers a third of the global economy and markets of more than 600 million people.
“The EU and Japan showed an undeterred determination to lead the world as flag-bearers for free trade,” Abe said at a joint news conference with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Tusk praised the deal as “the largest bilateral trade deal ever.” He said the partnership is being strengthened in various other areas, including defense, climate change and human exchange, and is “sending a clear message” against protectionism.
The leaders did not mention Trump by name, but they did little to mask what was on their minds — highlighting how Europe and Japan have been pushed closer by Trump’s actions.
The agreement was largely reached late last year. The ceremonial signing was delayed from earlier this month because Abe canceled going to Brussels over a disaster in southwestern Japan, caused by extremely heavy rainfall. More than 200 people died from flooding and landslides.
The measures won’t kick in right away and still require legislative approval. But they will bring Japanese consumers lower prices for European wines, pork, handbags and pharmaceuticals. Japanese machinery parts, tea and fish will become cheaper in Europe.
The deal eliminates about 99 percent of the tariffs on Japanese goods sold to the EU. About 94 percent of the tariffs on European exports to Japan will be lifted, rising to 99 percent in the future. The difference reflects exceptions on such products as rice, which enjoys strong political protection from imports in Japan.
Overall, European farmers will benefit, Juncker said, though European consumers will be able to more easily buy luscious Kobe beef and famous Yubari melons.
The EU said the trade liberalization will help raise European exports of chemicals, clothing, cosmetics and beer to Japan. Japanese will get cheaper cheeses, such as Parmesan, gouda and cheddar, as well as chocolate and biscuits.
The imported wine and cheese could hurt sales by Japanese wineries and dairies, but Japanese consumers have historically coveted such European products.
The major step toward liberalizing trade has been discussed since 2013.
Apart from its deal with the EU, Japan is working on other trade agreements, including a far-reaching trans-Pacific deal. The partnership includes Australia, Mexico, Vietnam and other nations, although the U.S. has withdrawn.
Abe praised the deal with the EU for helping his “Abenomics” policies, designed to wrest the economy out of stagnation despite a shrinking population and cautious spending. Japan’s growth remains heavily dependent on exports.
EU signs its biggest free trade deal with Japan - BBC News
July 17, 2018
EU signs its biggest free trade deal with Japan
Dairy products are one of Europe's biggest exports to Japan
The European Union and Japan have signed one of the world's biggest free trade deals, covering nearly a third of the world's GDP and 600 million people.
One of the biggest EU exports to Japan is dairy goods, while cars are one of Japan's biggest exports.
The move contrasts sharply with actions by the US Trump administration, which has introduced steep import tariffs.
EU Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said the deal underlined the "win-win" solutions offered by free trade.
Mr Juncker said: "[The] impact of today's agreement goes far beyond our shores. Together we are a making, by signing this agreement, a statement about the future of free and fair trade.
"We are showing that we are stronger and better off when we work together. And we are leading by example, showing that trade is about more than tariffs and barriers. It is about values, principles and finding win-win solutions for all those concerned."
US tariffs
The US was in talks with Japan and other Asian countries 18 months ago about a wide-ranging free-trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific trade agreement, but Donald Trump withdrew from this in one of his first moves after becoming president.
Since then, his "America First" policy has seen tariffs introduced on a range of items, including steel, which both Japan and the EU export to the US.
Firms in the EU, the world's biggest free-trade zone, currently export more than $100bn (£75bn) in goods and services to Japan, the world's third-biggest economy, every year.
Japan's Minister for Economic Revitalisation, Toshimitsu Motegi, said: "At a time when protectionist measures are gaining steam globally, the signing of the Japan-EU deal today will show the world once again our unwavering political will to promote free trade."
EU signs its biggest free trade deal with Japan
Dairy products are one of Europe's biggest exports to Japan
The European Union and Japan have signed one of the world's biggest free trade deals, covering nearly a third of the world's GDP and 600 million people.
One of the biggest EU exports to Japan is dairy goods, while cars are one of Japan's biggest exports.
The move contrasts sharply with actions by the US Trump administration, which has introduced steep import tariffs.
EU Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said the deal underlined the "win-win" solutions offered by free trade.
Mr Juncker said: "[The] impact of today's agreement goes far beyond our shores. Together we are a making, by signing this agreement, a statement about the future of free and fair trade.
"We are showing that we are stronger and better off when we work together. And we are leading by example, showing that trade is about more than tariffs and barriers. It is about values, principles and finding win-win solutions for all those concerned."
US tariffs
The US was in talks with Japan and other Asian countries 18 months ago about a wide-ranging free-trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific trade agreement, but Donald Trump withdrew from this in one of his first moves after becoming president.
Since then, his "America First" policy has seen tariffs introduced on a range of items, including steel, which both Japan and the EU export to the US.
Firms in the EU, the world's biggest free-trade zone, currently export more than $100bn (£75bn) in goods and services to Japan, the world's third-biggest economy, every year.
Japan's Minister for Economic Revitalisation, Toshimitsu Motegi, said: "At a time when protectionist measures are gaining steam globally, the signing of the Japan-EU deal today will show the world once again our unwavering political will to promote free trade."
International Finance Watchdog In Surprise Bitcoin Backing As It Reveals Crypto Stocktake - Forbes
International Finance Watchdog In Surprise Bitcoin Backing As It Reveals Crypto Stocktake
Billy Bambrough
Contributor
Jul 17, 2018, 05:58am 125 views #Crypto
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, who is also chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), gestures as he answers questions during a press conference in Tokyo on March 31, 2016. (Photo credit should read Toru Yamankaka/AFP/Getty Images)
International financial watchdog, the Financial Stability Board (FSB), has released a report that found bitcoin and cryptocurrencies do not currently pose a material risk to the global financial system.
According to a report published by the watchdog, cryptocurrencies "do not pose a material risk to global financial stability at this time."
Meanwhile, the FSB — which has members from the G20 major economies, the European Commission — said it planned to monitor cryptocurrency assets at banks and the world's largest financial systems.
The report also revealed the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) — which is part of the FSB — is gathering data on its member banks' direct and indirect exposure to cryptocurrency in an effort to quantify the potential impact of the technology.
The FSB, which is headed by Bank of England governor and bitcoin and crypto sceptic Mark Carney, earlier this year delivered a letter to the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors declaring that bitcoin does not post a "systemic risk" to the global financial system but has now doubled down on its earlier recommendation.
Earlier this year Carney warned bitcoin could be heading for a "pretty brutal reckoning," saying cryptocurrencies have "all the hallmarks of a bubble."
Carney said that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were "failing" in their key objectives and called for regulation of the space.
However, bitcoin and cryptocurrency were handed support from researchers at Imperial College London last week, who said digital currencies are primed for mass adoption.
The FSB report signals a move towards a global standard on bitcoin and cryptocurrnecy regualtion — something many digital currency companies have been calling for in recent years.
According to its report, the FSB will "help to identify and mitigate risks to consumer and investor protection, market integrity, and potentially to financial stability".
The bitcoin price, which has been struggling in recent months following its huge bull run last year, jumped on the release of the report yesterday.
bitcoin price chart
The bitcoin price climbed sharply on the release of the FSB reportCOINDESK
Meanwhile, the bitcoin price was given further support yesterday by the news that BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset management company, is looking to invest in the cryptocurrency.
Larry Fink, the chairman and CEO at BlackRock told Bloomberg:
We are looking at it and as I have said in the past, we are very excited about blockchain technology.
That is where we are looking at it even in the Aladdin universe with what we are trying to do there so we are looking at blockchain technologies.
We are studying it and we are looking at how they perform and we are looking at that type of data as we understand it as we think about other products but right now, worldwide I have not heard from one client that needs to be in it right now.
Billy Bambrough
Contributor
Jul 17, 2018, 05:58am 125 views #Crypto
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, who is also chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), gestures as he answers questions during a press conference in Tokyo on March 31, 2016. (Photo credit should read Toru Yamankaka/AFP/Getty Images)
International financial watchdog, the Financial Stability Board (FSB), has released a report that found bitcoin and cryptocurrencies do not currently pose a material risk to the global financial system.
According to a report published by the watchdog, cryptocurrencies "do not pose a material risk to global financial stability at this time."
Meanwhile, the FSB — which has members from the G20 major economies, the European Commission — said it planned to monitor cryptocurrency assets at banks and the world's largest financial systems.
The report also revealed the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) — which is part of the FSB — is gathering data on its member banks' direct and indirect exposure to cryptocurrency in an effort to quantify the potential impact of the technology.
The FSB, which is headed by Bank of England governor and bitcoin and crypto sceptic Mark Carney, earlier this year delivered a letter to the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors declaring that bitcoin does not post a "systemic risk" to the global financial system but has now doubled down on its earlier recommendation.
Earlier this year Carney warned bitcoin could be heading for a "pretty brutal reckoning," saying cryptocurrencies have "all the hallmarks of a bubble."
Carney said that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were "failing" in their key objectives and called for regulation of the space.
However, bitcoin and cryptocurrency were handed support from researchers at Imperial College London last week, who said digital currencies are primed for mass adoption.
The FSB report signals a move towards a global standard on bitcoin and cryptocurrnecy regualtion — something many digital currency companies have been calling for in recent years.
According to its report, the FSB will "help to identify and mitigate risks to consumer and investor protection, market integrity, and potentially to financial stability".
The bitcoin price, which has been struggling in recent months following its huge bull run last year, jumped on the release of the report yesterday.
bitcoin price chart
The bitcoin price climbed sharply on the release of the FSB reportCOINDESK
Meanwhile, the bitcoin price was given further support yesterday by the news that BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset management company, is looking to invest in the cryptocurrency.
Larry Fink, the chairman and CEO at BlackRock told Bloomberg:
We are looking at it and as I have said in the past, we are very excited about blockchain technology.
That is where we are looking at it even in the Aladdin universe with what we are trying to do there so we are looking at blockchain technologies.
We are studying it and we are looking at how they perform and we are looking at that type of data as we understand it as we think about other products but right now, worldwide I have not heard from one client that needs to be in it right now.
Sen. Merkley says it's "likely" that Russians have dirt on Trump - CBS News
July 16, 2018, 1:20 PM
Sen. Merkley says it's "likely" that Russians have dirt on Trump
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, said Monday that he believes that the Russian government may have "something close" to the long-rumored video of President Trump engaging in a sexual act with two prostitutes. When asked if footage of the alleged act exists on BuzzFeed's "AM to DM," Merkley responded that it is possible.
"Something close to that. Something close to that," Merkley said with a smirk. A dossier financed by Mr. Trump's opponents before the election and written by former British spy Christopher Steele asserted that such a video exists, although there is no known evidence that it does. Mr. Trump has also denied the existence of such a video.
If a blackmail tape of the specific sexual encounter does not exist, Merkley believes that the Russian government may still have some form of compromising content or information involving Mr. Trump.
"I think it's likely," Merkley responded when asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin has anything on Mr. Trump.
"It's the standard strategy of Russia when people visit there who are important, to try to get compromising information on them, to set them up with hookers, to tape everything that goes on in their room. So it's likely that they have that," he said.
Tom Namako
✔
@TomNamako
.@BuzzFeedBen: "Do you think Vladimir Putin has anything on him?"@SenJeffMerkley: "I think it's likely."
..
Smith: "Your view is that the pee tape is real?"
Merkley: "Something close to that. Something close to that."
From @AM2DM:
12:44 AM - Jul 17, 2018
Mr. Trump and Putin held a joint press conference as part of the U.S.-Russia summit in Helsinki on Monday. In the last question of the media event, the Associated Press asked Putin point-blank if he has compromising material on Mr. Trump.
"When President Trump visited Moscow back then I didn't even know that he was in Moscow," Putin said. "I treat President Trump with utmost respect. But back then, when he was a private individual, a businessman, nobody informed me that he was in Moscow."
Mr. Trump took the opportunity to respond as well.
"And I have to say if they had it, it would have been out long ago and if anybody watched Peter Strzok testify over the last couple of days and I was in Brussels watching it, it was a disgrace to the FBI, it was a disgrace to our country. And you would say that was a total witch hunt. Thank you very much everybody. Thank you," Mr. Trump said, ending the press event.
Sen. Merkley says it's "likely" that Russians have dirt on Trump
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, said Monday that he believes that the Russian government may have "something close" to the long-rumored video of President Trump engaging in a sexual act with two prostitutes. When asked if footage of the alleged act exists on BuzzFeed's "AM to DM," Merkley responded that it is possible.
"Something close to that. Something close to that," Merkley said with a smirk. A dossier financed by Mr. Trump's opponents before the election and written by former British spy Christopher Steele asserted that such a video exists, although there is no known evidence that it does. Mr. Trump has also denied the existence of such a video.
If a blackmail tape of the specific sexual encounter does not exist, Merkley believes that the Russian government may still have some form of compromising content or information involving Mr. Trump.
"I think it's likely," Merkley responded when asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin has anything on Mr. Trump.
"It's the standard strategy of Russia when people visit there who are important, to try to get compromising information on them, to set them up with hookers, to tape everything that goes on in their room. So it's likely that they have that," he said.
Tom Namako
✔
@TomNamako
.@BuzzFeedBen: "Do you think Vladimir Putin has anything on him?"@SenJeffMerkley: "I think it's likely."
..
Smith: "Your view is that the pee tape is real?"
Merkley: "Something close to that. Something close to that."
From @AM2DM:
12:44 AM - Jul 17, 2018
Mr. Trump and Putin held a joint press conference as part of the U.S.-Russia summit in Helsinki on Monday. In the last question of the media event, the Associated Press asked Putin point-blank if he has compromising material on Mr. Trump.
"When President Trump visited Moscow back then I didn't even know that he was in Moscow," Putin said. "I treat President Trump with utmost respect. But back then, when he was a private individual, a businessman, nobody informed me that he was in Moscow."
Mr. Trump took the opportunity to respond as well.
"And I have to say if they had it, it would have been out long ago and if anybody watched Peter Strzok testify over the last couple of days and I was in Brussels watching it, it was a disgrace to the FBI, it was a disgrace to our country. And you would say that was a total witch hunt. Thank you very much everybody. Thank you," Mr. Trump said, ending the press event.
Revealed: What the colour of your urine can tell you about your health - and the exact shade when you need to reach for a bottle of water this summer - Daily Mail
Revealed: What the colour of your urine can tell you about your health - and the exact shade when you need to reach for a bottle of water this summer
Dark yellow or brown urine is a sign someone is not drinking enough water
Dehydration causes dizziness and headaches but can become more serious
Clear or pale yellow urine is ideal and means someone is drinking enough
By SAM BLANCHARD FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 02:09 AEST, 17 July 2018 | UPDATED: 05:52 AEST, 17 July 2018
The colour of your urine can tell you if you should be drinking more water, which is extra important during the hot summer months.
Urine is usually varying shades of yellow and, the darker it is, the more likely it is that you're becoming dehydrated.
Dehydration can be a serious health risk and is particularly dangerous for babies, children and elderly people.
The NHS says people in the UK should drink at least 1.2 litres of water a day – 2.4 pints – and more when the weather is hot.
And if your urine is consistently red or orange it could be a sign of a more serious underlying condition such as a urine infection, prostate problems or kidney disease.
Using a urine colour chart like the one below created by sports drink company iPro Sport, you can work out if you're drinking enough water.
The colour of urine can be an indicator of how well hydrated you are and can also point to more serious problems like kidney disease or cancer +2
The colour of urine can be an indicator of how well hydrated you are and can also point to more serious problems like kidney disease or cancer
Video playing bottom right...
The urine of someone who is properly hydrated should be a very pale yellow or clear, according to the sports drink company.
Whereas a darker yellow or more brownish colour could be a sign someone is getting dangerously dehydrated.
Dehydration can usually be easily avoided and treated by drinking enough water, but if left to get worse it can cause dizziness and tiredness or lead to more serious complications like heatstroke, muscle cramps or exhaustion.
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Someone's heatstroke could be severe or life-threatening if they are not sweating even though they are too hot, have a body temperature of 40C or more, becomes confused or short of breath, or has a seizure or passes out.
If this happens an ambulance should be called immediately.
Often dehydration is simple enough to avoid – just feeling thirsty is likely a sign that someone's body needs them to drink more water.
iPro Sport's chart explains that someone whose urine is brown is likely to be seriously dehydrated.
The symptom could be a sign of something more serious, however, and may need medical attention if it continues.
Yellow or dark yellow urine are signs of dehydration
Yellow or dark yellow urine are also both signs of dehydration, but it is not likely too severe – drinking more water immediately should be enough to rehydrate the body.
Some people are more at risk of dehydration, including those with diabetes, people who have been vomiting or suffering diarrhoea, and people who have been in the sun for a long time.
Exercising and sweating, drinking alcohol, and having a fever or taking medicines which make you pee more can all raise the risk of dehydration.
The colour chart produced by iPro Sport acts as a handy guide for people to check whether or not they are dehydrated +2
The colour chart produced by iPro Sport acts as a handy guide for people to check whether or not they are dehydrated
Red or orange could be a sign of something more serious
If urine is a colour other than yellow – such as red, orange or green – it is likely to be because of something you ate or drank.
For example, beetroot may turn urine red temporarily.
But urine that is consistently another colour for a long time could be a sign of something more serious.
Red urine can be caused by blood, which could be pointing towards kidney disease, cancer, an infection or prostate problems.
Meanwhile orange could signal a problem with the liver or bile duct.
DRINKING TOO MUCH WATER IS ALSO DANGEROUS
Drinking too much water can lead to just as severe problems as not drinking enough, but is far less likely.
American football player Tom Brady, the quarterback for New England Patriots in Boston, revealed in a book that he drinks a whopping 37 glasses of water a day – half of his own body weight.
Drinking too much water can dilute vital sodium supplies in the body and cause a condition called hyponatremia.
This is most common in endurance athletes or people who take drugs like ecstasy, which can make them feel thirstier than they really are.
If sodium in the body becomes too diluted, your cells start to swell.
This can cause headaches and confusion and fatigure, but can also lead to muscle weakness, cramps, seizures, and even a coma.
Dietitian Abbey Sharp said it was highly unlikely Brady needs to drink as much water as he claims to, and said: 'My recommendation is to forget all of the standards about how much you should be drinking each day.
'It's not half your body weight, it's not two liters, it's not that any one size fits all.
'Listen to your body's thirst cues and keep plain water near by at all times to hydrate. Check in with yourself regularly to see if you are indeed thirsty and don't deny those cues.'
Dark yellow or brown urine is a sign someone is not drinking enough water
Dehydration causes dizziness and headaches but can become more serious
Clear or pale yellow urine is ideal and means someone is drinking enough
By SAM BLANCHARD FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 02:09 AEST, 17 July 2018 | UPDATED: 05:52 AEST, 17 July 2018
The colour of your urine can tell you if you should be drinking more water, which is extra important during the hot summer months.
Urine is usually varying shades of yellow and, the darker it is, the more likely it is that you're becoming dehydrated.
Dehydration can be a serious health risk and is particularly dangerous for babies, children and elderly people.
The NHS says people in the UK should drink at least 1.2 litres of water a day – 2.4 pints – and more when the weather is hot.
And if your urine is consistently red or orange it could be a sign of a more serious underlying condition such as a urine infection, prostate problems or kidney disease.
Using a urine colour chart like the one below created by sports drink company iPro Sport, you can work out if you're drinking enough water.
The colour of urine can be an indicator of how well hydrated you are and can also point to more serious problems like kidney disease or cancer +2
The colour of urine can be an indicator of how well hydrated you are and can also point to more serious problems like kidney disease or cancer
Video playing bottom right...
The urine of someone who is properly hydrated should be a very pale yellow or clear, according to the sports drink company.
Whereas a darker yellow or more brownish colour could be a sign someone is getting dangerously dehydrated.
Dehydration can usually be easily avoided and treated by drinking enough water, but if left to get worse it can cause dizziness and tiredness or lead to more serious complications like heatstroke, muscle cramps or exhaustion.
Fat consumption is the only cause of weight gain!...
Stop binge-watching Netflix, go for more walks and ditch...
Woman, 29, has dangling, overgrown lumps of scar tissue...
The children destined to die, turn blind or fight a lifetime...
Someone's heatstroke could be severe or life-threatening if they are not sweating even though they are too hot, have a body temperature of 40C or more, becomes confused or short of breath, or has a seizure or passes out.
If this happens an ambulance should be called immediately.
Often dehydration is simple enough to avoid – just feeling thirsty is likely a sign that someone's body needs them to drink more water.
iPro Sport's chart explains that someone whose urine is brown is likely to be seriously dehydrated.
The symptom could be a sign of something more serious, however, and may need medical attention if it continues.
Yellow or dark yellow urine are signs of dehydration
Yellow or dark yellow urine are also both signs of dehydration, but it is not likely too severe – drinking more water immediately should be enough to rehydrate the body.
Some people are more at risk of dehydration, including those with diabetes, people who have been vomiting or suffering diarrhoea, and people who have been in the sun for a long time.
Exercising and sweating, drinking alcohol, and having a fever or taking medicines which make you pee more can all raise the risk of dehydration.
The colour chart produced by iPro Sport acts as a handy guide for people to check whether or not they are dehydrated +2
The colour chart produced by iPro Sport acts as a handy guide for people to check whether or not they are dehydrated
Red or orange could be a sign of something more serious
If urine is a colour other than yellow – such as red, orange or green – it is likely to be because of something you ate or drank.
For example, beetroot may turn urine red temporarily.
But urine that is consistently another colour for a long time could be a sign of something more serious.
Red urine can be caused by blood, which could be pointing towards kidney disease, cancer, an infection or prostate problems.
Meanwhile orange could signal a problem with the liver or bile duct.
DRINKING TOO MUCH WATER IS ALSO DANGEROUS
Drinking too much water can lead to just as severe problems as not drinking enough, but is far less likely.
American football player Tom Brady, the quarterback for New England Patriots in Boston, revealed in a book that he drinks a whopping 37 glasses of water a day – half of his own body weight.
Drinking too much water can dilute vital sodium supplies in the body and cause a condition called hyponatremia.
This is most common in endurance athletes or people who take drugs like ecstasy, which can make them feel thirstier than they really are.
If sodium in the body becomes too diluted, your cells start to swell.
This can cause headaches and confusion and fatigure, but can also lead to muscle weakness, cramps, seizures, and even a coma.
Dietitian Abbey Sharp said it was highly unlikely Brady needs to drink as much water as he claims to, and said: 'My recommendation is to forget all of the standards about how much you should be drinking each day.
'It's not half your body weight, it's not two liters, it's not that any one size fits all.
'Listen to your body's thirst cues and keep plain water near by at all times to hydrate. Check in with yourself regularly to see if you are indeed thirsty and don't deny those cues.'
Trump-Putin summit: After Helsinki, the fallout at home - BBC News
Trump-Putin summit: After Helsinki, the fallout at home
Anthony Zurcher
North America reporter
@awzurcher on Twitter
16 July 2018
The Helsinki summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is over, and after nearly two hours behind closed doors and another hour in front of the press, there's plenty of material to sort through.
Leading into the meeting, Democrats were warning Mr Trump to be careful in dealing with his Russian counterpart - with some suggesting that it was unwise for the US president to even hold such an event, given Friday's indictments of 12 Russian military officers for conducting cyber-warfare against the US during the 2016 elections.
Many Republicans, on the other hand, were cautiously optimistic that the president would push back against Mr Putin on a range of issues. Congressman Steve Scalise, a Republican house leader, said that Mr Trump entered into the negotiations "from a position of American strength to combat Russian aggression".
Things went … a bit differently. Here are some key takeaways.
'We're all to blame'
Mr Trump, in his first question from an American reporter, was pressed to explain why earlier in the day he had tweeted out that US was to blame for the current tense state of US-Russia relations.
In his answer, he stood by his earlier comments and said he held "both countries responsible".
He said both sides had "made some mistakes" - but declined to specifically mention items like the Russian military involvement in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea, the Novichok chemical attack in southern England and the indictment of Russians for meddling in the US election.
Media captionThe ways Trump and Putin see eye to eye
Instead, he insisted there was "no collusion at all" between his campaign and Russia, conflating charges of election meddling - for which there have been indictments of Russian nationals - with evidence of collusion, which the Mueller probe has not yet alleged.
When asked if he would directly condemn Russia and Mr Putin on election meddling, Mr Trump said his intelligence officials - including Director of Intelligence Dan Coats - have told him "they think it's Russia". Mr Putin, he continued, just told him it's not Russia.
"I don't see any reason why it would be," Mr Trump concluded, apparently leaning toward the Russian professions of innocence over the conclusions of his own government.
This has put the US intelligence community in a familiar bind, given Mr Trump's past criticisms. It's a bind, however, for which Trump-appointed leaders, in office for more than a year, are now accountable.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
As I said today and many times before, “I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people.” However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past – as the world’s two largest nuclear powers, we must get along! #HELSINKI2018
5:40 AM - Jul 17, 2018
Mr Coats has issued a statement saying his intelligence community stands by its "fact-based assessments" of Russian meddling and their "ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy". Later on Monday, the president made an effort, via Twitter, to smooth over ruffled feathers.
Mr Mueller has indicted more than two dozen Russians, but Mr Trump still isn't convinced that they're to blame - raising instead questions about the security of Democratic computer servers and FBI bias.
The Trump Justice Department, and Mr Mueller's special counsel team, will grind on - Monday afternoon's announcement of a Russian woman indicted for being an undisclosed foreign operative is evidence of that. But Mr Trump's campaign to discredit their work will also continue undeterred.
Never Trumpers' outrage
Not surprisingly, Mr Trump's performance was greeted with a mix of condemnation and derision from the left. Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a "shameful performance" that was "thoughtless, dangerous and weak". John Brennan, director of the CIA under Barack Obama, said Mr Trump was guilty of treason.
Meanwhile, never-Trump conservatives were quick with "I told you so-s". Political consultant (and Jeb Bush advisor) Mike Murphy called it a "dark day", after tweeting a string of invective. Former 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain said it was "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory".
"The damage inflicted by President Trump's naivete, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate," the Arizona Republican senator, and chair of the Armed Services committee, wrote in a statement. "But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake."
Image copyrightEPA
Conservative unease
Perhaps most noteworthy is how Mr Trump is being seen among Republicans who are - or were becoming - more sympathetic to Mr Trump. Abby Huntsman, a conservative commentator and daughter of US ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman, tweeted that "no negotiation is worth throwing your own people and country under the bus".
Newt Gingrich called Mr Trump's statements on intelligence agencies "the most serious mistake of his presidency". /bf]
Skip Twitter post by @newtgingrich
Newt Gingrich
✔
@newtgingrich
President Trump must clarify his statements in Helsinki on our intelligence system and Putin. It is the most serious mistake of his presidency and must be corrected—-immediately.
7:15 AM - Jul 17, 2018
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who swings between Trump critic and Trump confidante, was back in the former camp, calling the summit a "missed opportunity", a "bad day for the US" that will be sign of weakness to Russia.
New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz, who several months ago had written about how pro- and anti-Trump conservatives had to dial back their rhetoric, was blunt.
"You can love Trump, you can be thrilled he vanquished Hillary, you can be right that Obama's foreign policy was clownish, but call it here: this was atrocious and no American president should ever behave this way."
The Drudge Report had a headline blaring that "Putin dominates" the summit. Even on the Fox News cable networks, which are normally Trump's biggest defender and echo chamber, commentators appeared uneasy. Neil Cavuto called the president's performance "disgraceful" and said it "sets us back a lot".
"There is a growing consensus across the land tonight ... that the president threw the United States under the bus," said Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts.
Mary Kissel, a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, told Fox News audience that "nothing was achieved" from the summit.
Axios
✔
@axios
Neil Cavuto of Fox Business calls Trump's press conference "disgusting", "That sets us back a lot."
2:23 AM - Jul 17, 2018
"The president came off as wanting to have more meetings and going to Putin and asking for Putin's help, when we should be in the position of Putin coming to us and asking us to ease up on him," she said. "Unfortunately, President Putin scored a great propaganda victory."
This could all blow over, of course. With domestic political battles on the horizon - a Supreme Court confirmation and mid-term election contests - the partisan battle lines could quickly re-form.
For a moment, however, there was a hint of doubt and concern and the possibility that, at some point in the future, when political expediency is no longer paramount, Mr Trump could face more significant dissention within his ranks.
'A first important step'
This isn't how Mr Trump and his supporters see it. For them, the summit should be framed as the beginning of a larger effort to repair relations between the world's two largest nuclear powers.
"From the earliest days of our republic, American leaders have understood that diplomacy and engagement is preferable to conflict and hostility," he said.
Mr Putin echoed those sentiments, calling the summit the "first important step".
With no tangible results from the summit, the two leaders are framing this as the first of many meetings to come
Given the American reaction from across the political spectrum, however, future meetings may be difficult to pull off.
After a week abroad, Mr Trump on Monday delivered the coup de grace for what has been a highly disruptive week in US foreign affairs.
European allies are uneasy. US-Russia relations are uncertain. And the US political world - and even the White House's own communications team - is unsettled.
What comes next? That's unknown.
Anthony Zurcher
North America reporter
@awzurcher on Twitter
16 July 2018
The Helsinki summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is over, and after nearly two hours behind closed doors and another hour in front of the press, there's plenty of material to sort through.
Leading into the meeting, Democrats were warning Mr Trump to be careful in dealing with his Russian counterpart - with some suggesting that it was unwise for the US president to even hold such an event, given Friday's indictments of 12 Russian military officers for conducting cyber-warfare against the US during the 2016 elections.
Many Republicans, on the other hand, were cautiously optimistic that the president would push back against Mr Putin on a range of issues. Congressman Steve Scalise, a Republican house leader, said that Mr Trump entered into the negotiations "from a position of American strength to combat Russian aggression".
Things went … a bit differently. Here are some key takeaways.
'We're all to blame'
Mr Trump, in his first question from an American reporter, was pressed to explain why earlier in the day he had tweeted out that US was to blame for the current tense state of US-Russia relations.
In his answer, he stood by his earlier comments and said he held "both countries responsible".
He said both sides had "made some mistakes" - but declined to specifically mention items like the Russian military involvement in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea, the Novichok chemical attack in southern England and the indictment of Russians for meddling in the US election.
Media captionThe ways Trump and Putin see eye to eye
Instead, he insisted there was "no collusion at all" between his campaign and Russia, conflating charges of election meddling - for which there have been indictments of Russian nationals - with evidence of collusion, which the Mueller probe has not yet alleged.
When asked if he would directly condemn Russia and Mr Putin on election meddling, Mr Trump said his intelligence officials - including Director of Intelligence Dan Coats - have told him "they think it's Russia". Mr Putin, he continued, just told him it's not Russia.
"I don't see any reason why it would be," Mr Trump concluded, apparently leaning toward the Russian professions of innocence over the conclusions of his own government.
This has put the US intelligence community in a familiar bind, given Mr Trump's past criticisms. It's a bind, however, for which Trump-appointed leaders, in office for more than a year, are now accountable.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
As I said today and many times before, “I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people.” However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past – as the world’s two largest nuclear powers, we must get along! #HELSINKI2018
5:40 AM - Jul 17, 2018
Mr Coats has issued a statement saying his intelligence community stands by its "fact-based assessments" of Russian meddling and their "ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy". Later on Monday, the president made an effort, via Twitter, to smooth over ruffled feathers.
Mr Mueller has indicted more than two dozen Russians, but Mr Trump still isn't convinced that they're to blame - raising instead questions about the security of Democratic computer servers and FBI bias.
The Trump Justice Department, and Mr Mueller's special counsel team, will grind on - Monday afternoon's announcement of a Russian woman indicted for being an undisclosed foreign operative is evidence of that. But Mr Trump's campaign to discredit their work will also continue undeterred.
Never Trumpers' outrage
Not surprisingly, Mr Trump's performance was greeted with a mix of condemnation and derision from the left. Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a "shameful performance" that was "thoughtless, dangerous and weak". John Brennan, director of the CIA under Barack Obama, said Mr Trump was guilty of treason.
Meanwhile, never-Trump conservatives were quick with "I told you so-s". Political consultant (and Jeb Bush advisor) Mike Murphy called it a "dark day", after tweeting a string of invective. Former 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain said it was "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory".
"The damage inflicted by President Trump's naivete, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate," the Arizona Republican senator, and chair of the Armed Services committee, wrote in a statement. "But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake."
Image copyrightEPA
Conservative unease
Perhaps most noteworthy is how Mr Trump is being seen among Republicans who are - or were becoming - more sympathetic to Mr Trump. Abby Huntsman, a conservative commentator and daughter of US ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman, tweeted that "no negotiation is worth throwing your own people and country under the bus".
Newt Gingrich called Mr Trump's statements on intelligence agencies "the most serious mistake of his presidency". /bf]
Skip Twitter post by @newtgingrich
Newt Gingrich
✔
@newtgingrich
President Trump must clarify his statements in Helsinki on our intelligence system and Putin. It is the most serious mistake of his presidency and must be corrected—-immediately.
7:15 AM - Jul 17, 2018
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who swings between Trump critic and Trump confidante, was back in the former camp, calling the summit a "missed opportunity", a "bad day for the US" that will be sign of weakness to Russia.
New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz, who several months ago had written about how pro- and anti-Trump conservatives had to dial back their rhetoric, was blunt.
"You can love Trump, you can be thrilled he vanquished Hillary, you can be right that Obama's foreign policy was clownish, but call it here: this was atrocious and no American president should ever behave this way."
The Drudge Report had a headline blaring that "Putin dominates" the summit. Even on the Fox News cable networks, which are normally Trump's biggest defender and echo chamber, commentators appeared uneasy. Neil Cavuto called the president's performance "disgraceful" and said it "sets us back a lot".
"There is a growing consensus across the land tonight ... that the president threw the United States under the bus," said Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts.
Mary Kissel, a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, told Fox News audience that "nothing was achieved" from the summit.
Axios
✔
@axios
Neil Cavuto of Fox Business calls Trump's press conference "disgusting", "That sets us back a lot."
2:23 AM - Jul 17, 2018
"The president came off as wanting to have more meetings and going to Putin and asking for Putin's help, when we should be in the position of Putin coming to us and asking us to ease up on him," she said. "Unfortunately, President Putin scored a great propaganda victory."
This could all blow over, of course. With domestic political battles on the horizon - a Supreme Court confirmation and mid-term election contests - the partisan battle lines could quickly re-form.
For a moment, however, there was a hint of doubt and concern and the possibility that, at some point in the future, when political expediency is no longer paramount, Mr Trump could face more significant dissention within his ranks.
'A first important step'
This isn't how Mr Trump and his supporters see it. For them, the summit should be framed as the beginning of a larger effort to repair relations between the world's two largest nuclear powers.
"From the earliest days of our republic, American leaders have understood that diplomacy and engagement is preferable to conflict and hostility," he said.
Mr Putin echoed those sentiments, calling the summit the "first important step".
With no tangible results from the summit, the two leaders are framing this as the first of many meetings to come
Given the American reaction from across the political spectrum, however, future meetings may be difficult to pull off.
After a week abroad, Mr Trump on Monday delivered the coup de grace for what has been a highly disruptive week in US foreign affairs.
European allies are uneasy. US-Russia relations are uncertain. And the US political world - and even the White House's own communications team - is unsettled.
What comes next? That's unknown.
Trump-Putin summit: US president under fire over poll meddling comments - BBC News
July 17, 2018
Trump-Putin summit: US president under fire over poll meddling comments
The ways Trump and Putin see eye to eye
There has been a barrage of criticism in the US after President Donald Trump defended Russia over claims of interference in the 2016 elections.
At a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland, Mr Trump contradicted US intelligence agencies, saying Russia had no reason to meddle.
The top Republican in Congress, House Speaker Paul Ryan, said Mr Trump must see that "Russia is not our ally".
The president's own intelligence chief publicly broke with him.
Russia is responsible for "ongoing, pervasive attempts" to undermine US democracy, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said in a statement.
Mr Putin denied the claim.
On Monday the US and Russian presidents held nearly two hours of one-on-one talks without their advisers in the Finnish capital Helsinki .
Trump's 'most serious mistake'
Russian praise for Putin after summit
Schwarzenegger calls Trump a 'wet noodle'
What did President Trump say?
At a news conference after the summit, he was asked if he believed his own intelligence agencies or the Russian president when it came to allegations of meddling in the election.
"President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be," he replied.
Mr Trump also blamed poor relations with Russia on past US administrations rather than Russian actions.
Media captionTrump: "There was nobody to collude with"
US intelligence agencies concluded in 2016 that Russia was behind an effort to tip the scale of the US election against Hillary Clinton, with a state-authorised campaign of cyber attacks and fake news stories planted on social media.
Mr Trump later backtracked, tweeting that he had "great confidence in my intelligence people".
Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
As I said today and many times before, “I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people.” However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past – as the world’s two largest nuclear powers, we must get along! #HELSINKI2018
5:40 AM - Jul 17, 2018
97.7K
80.1K people are talking about this
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End of Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
How did it play at home?
Badly. In a strongly worded statement, Mr Ryan said: "There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals.
He added that there was "no question" Moscow had interfered in the 2016 election.
Senator John McCain, a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it was a "disgraceful performance".
"No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant," Mr McCain said in a statement.
Another senior Republican, Sen Lindsey Graham, also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, tweeted that it was a "missed opportunity... to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling".
In a series of tweets, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Mr Trump's actions had "strengthened our adversaries while weakening our defences and those of our allies".
Skip Twitter post by @SenSchumer
Chuck Schumer
✔
@SenSchumer
Replying to @SenSchumer
For the president of the United States to side with President Putin against American law enforcement, American defense officials, and American intelligence agencies is thoughtless, dangerous, and weak. The president is putting himself over our country.
2:56 AM - Jul 17, 2018
Former CIA director John Brennan said Mr Trump's news conference "was nothing short of treasonous".
"Not only were Trump's comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???" he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Mike Pence defended the summit and praised President Trump.
ABC News Politics
✔
@ABCPolitics
Vice Pres. Pence praises the Trump-Putin summit: "Disagreements between our countries were discussed at length, but what the world saw, what the American people saw, is that Pres. Donald Trump will always put the prosperity and security of America first." https://abcn.ws/2NhLSiC
4:58 AM - Jul 17, 2018
Some US politicians had called for the summit to be cancelled after 12 Russian military intelligence agents were indicted last week, accused of hacking Hillary Clinton's election campaign.
Putin laughs off Mueller indictment in Fox News interview
Speaking at the joint news conference, President Putin offered to allow US investigators to visit Russia to question the officers.
In a later interview with Fox News, Mr Putin said it was "ridiculous" that some people thought Russia could have influenced the US elections.
He said US-Russian relations should not be "held hostage" to an internal political struggle in America.
Mr Putin also denied longstanding reports that Russian intelligence may hold compromising material on Mr Trump.
The Russian president said that before the election Mr Trump was just a "rich person" and "of no interest for us".
And Mr Putin accused the UK of making "ungrounded accusations" over the recent poisoning of ex-Soviet spy Sergei Skripal and three other people with the "novichok" nerve agent.
One of those people has since died.
Novichok: Murder inquiry after Dawn Sturgess dies
Referring to the Skripal case, Mr Putin said Russia had received no evidence about it. "Nobody gives it to us, he said. "It's the same thing as the accusations with meddling into the election process in America."
With no tangible results from the summit, the two leaders are framing this as the first of many meetings to come
Given the American reaction from across the political spectrum, however, future meetings may be difficult to pull off.
After a week abroad, Mr Trump on Monday delivered the coup de grace for what has been a highly disruptive week in US foreign affairs.
European allies are uneasy. US-Russia relations are uncertain. And the US political world - and even the White House's own communications team - is unsettled.
Mr Putin described the Helsinki meeting as "candid and useful" while Mr Trump said there had been "deeply productive dialogue".
Mr Trump said US-Russia relations had "never been worse" than before they met, but that had now changed.
Relations between Russia and the West were severely strained by Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and Russia's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Trump-Putin summit: US president under fire over poll meddling comments
The ways Trump and Putin see eye to eye
There has been a barrage of criticism in the US after President Donald Trump defended Russia over claims of interference in the 2016 elections.
At a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland, Mr Trump contradicted US intelligence agencies, saying Russia had no reason to meddle.
The top Republican in Congress, House Speaker Paul Ryan, said Mr Trump must see that "Russia is not our ally".
The president's own intelligence chief publicly broke with him.
Russia is responsible for "ongoing, pervasive attempts" to undermine US democracy, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said in a statement.
Mr Putin denied the claim.
On Monday the US and Russian presidents held nearly two hours of one-on-one talks without their advisers in the Finnish capital Helsinki .
Trump's 'most serious mistake'
Russian praise for Putin after summit
Schwarzenegger calls Trump a 'wet noodle'
What did President Trump say?
At a news conference after the summit, he was asked if he believed his own intelligence agencies or the Russian president when it came to allegations of meddling in the election.
"President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be," he replied.
Mr Trump also blamed poor relations with Russia on past US administrations rather than Russian actions.
Media captionTrump: "There was nobody to collude with"
US intelligence agencies concluded in 2016 that Russia was behind an effort to tip the scale of the US election against Hillary Clinton, with a state-authorised campaign of cyber attacks and fake news stories planted on social media.
Mr Trump later backtracked, tweeting that he had "great confidence in my intelligence people".
Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
As I said today and many times before, “I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people.” However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past – as the world’s two largest nuclear powers, we must get along! #HELSINKI2018
5:40 AM - Jul 17, 2018
97.7K
80.1K people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Report
End of Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
How did it play at home?
Badly. In a strongly worded statement, Mr Ryan said: "There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals.
He added that there was "no question" Moscow had interfered in the 2016 election.
Senator John McCain, a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it was a "disgraceful performance".
"No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant," Mr McCain said in a statement.
Another senior Republican, Sen Lindsey Graham, also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, tweeted that it was a "missed opportunity... to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling".
In a series of tweets, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Mr Trump's actions had "strengthened our adversaries while weakening our defences and those of our allies".
Skip Twitter post by @SenSchumer
Chuck Schumer
✔
@SenSchumer
Replying to @SenSchumer
For the president of the United States to side with President Putin against American law enforcement, American defense officials, and American intelligence agencies is thoughtless, dangerous, and weak. The president is putting himself over our country.
2:56 AM - Jul 17, 2018
Former CIA director John Brennan said Mr Trump's news conference "was nothing short of treasonous".
"Not only were Trump's comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???" he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Mike Pence defended the summit and praised President Trump.
ABC News Politics
✔
@ABCPolitics
Vice Pres. Pence praises the Trump-Putin summit: "Disagreements between our countries were discussed at length, but what the world saw, what the American people saw, is that Pres. Donald Trump will always put the prosperity and security of America first." https://abcn.ws/2NhLSiC
4:58 AM - Jul 17, 2018
Some US politicians had called for the summit to be cancelled after 12 Russian military intelligence agents were indicted last week, accused of hacking Hillary Clinton's election campaign.
Putin laughs off Mueller indictment in Fox News interview
Speaking at the joint news conference, President Putin offered to allow US investigators to visit Russia to question the officers.
In a later interview with Fox News, Mr Putin said it was "ridiculous" that some people thought Russia could have influenced the US elections.
He said US-Russian relations should not be "held hostage" to an internal political struggle in America.
Mr Putin also denied longstanding reports that Russian intelligence may hold compromising material on Mr Trump.
The Russian president said that before the election Mr Trump was just a "rich person" and "of no interest for us".
And Mr Putin accused the UK of making "ungrounded accusations" over the recent poisoning of ex-Soviet spy Sergei Skripal and three other people with the "novichok" nerve agent.
One of those people has since died.
Novichok: Murder inquiry after Dawn Sturgess dies
Referring to the Skripal case, Mr Putin said Russia had received no evidence about it. "Nobody gives it to us, he said. "It's the same thing as the accusations with meddling into the election process in America."
With no tangible results from the summit, the two leaders are framing this as the first of many meetings to come
Given the American reaction from across the political spectrum, however, future meetings may be difficult to pull off.
After a week abroad, Mr Trump on Monday delivered the coup de grace for what has been a highly disruptive week in US foreign affairs.
European allies are uneasy. US-Russia relations are uncertain. And the US political world - and even the White House's own communications team - is unsettled.
Mr Putin described the Helsinki meeting as "candid and useful" while Mr Trump said there had been "deeply productive dialogue".
Mr Trump said US-Russia relations had "never been worse" than before they met, but that had now changed.
Relations between Russia and the West were severely strained by Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and Russia's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Monday, July 16, 2018
Trump-Putin summit: Why is it a big deal? - BBC News
Trump-Putin summit: Why is it a big deal?
16 July 2018
The relations between the US and Russia have been far from smile-inducing recently
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are holding a summit in the Finnish capital, Helsinki. Why is this so hotly anticipated?
The US and Russia have long been adversaries but accusations that Moscow interfered in the US presidential election in 2016 have added an extra, bitter ingredient.
Let's take a look.
Why are there US-Russia tensions?
It goes back to the so-called Cold War (from 1945 to 1989) and the hostilities between the US and the then Soviet Union.
They never fought each other directly but differences remained even after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the consolidation of the US as the world's sole superpower.
Fast forward to now, and Mr Putin has made no secret of his determination to reassert Russian power after years of perceived humiliation, often putting his country on a collision course with the US.
How do Russia tensions compare to Soviet era?
Difficult at the best of times, bilateral relations have deteriorated significantly since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. That led the US and others to impose a series of economic sanctions on Russia.
Why is a meeting between these men so important?
Their relationship has become one of the most scrutinised in global affairs, because of claims of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election, which has been denied by Moscow.
US intelligence agencies believe Russia tried to sway the election in Mr Trump's favour.
An investigation into what Russia did and whether any of the Trump team helped them is the subject of an investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, dismissed by the president as a "witch hunt".
Repeatedly he has called it a Democratic conspiracy driven by bitterness at losing the election.
Read more about Crimea
Trump Russia affair: Key questions answered
Since taking office in January 2017, President Trump has sought to improve ties, a stance at odds with traditional Republican party policy.
Last month, he supported Russia's re-admission to the group of industrialised nations - now called G7 - after its suspension following the annexation of Crimea.
What have they said about each other?
Mr Trump has made several comments praising Mr Putin. "Very much of a leader," he said in 2016, "far more than our president has been a leader," in reference to Barack Obama.
Last year, he called Mr Putin a "tough cookie".
In March, he congratulated Mr Putin for his controversial election victory, despite warnings from his advisers not to do so.
Putin and Trump in their own words
Mr Putin has been more guarded in his views about Mr Trump, but has called him a "very bright person, talented" and a "colourful" man in the past.
What will they discuss?
Official statements have lacked details but the talks are likely to include:
Arms control: Both leaders have bragged about their nuclear capabilities and experts say this is one of the key points to watch. US and Russia have a deal called New Start, aimed at reducing and limiting the size of their nuclear arsenals, the two largest in the world. It is in effect until 2021 and any progress in extending it will be seen as a good sign. They are also likely to discuss a missiles treaty signed in 1987 amid mutual accusations of breaches
US sanctions: Those were imposed on companies and individuals over Russia's annexation of Crimea, its support to separatists in eastern Ukraine, its role in the conflict in Syria and its alleged interference in the 2016 election. Congress needs to approve the easing of restrictions but observers say Mr Trump can indicate that the list of those sanctioned will not be expanded, a move that would be welcomed by Russia
Ukraine: The US has given military aid to Ukraine and Mr Putin would be happy to see it scrapped. This, as well as a recognition of Russia's annexation of Crimea, is unlikely to happen. But both leaders can agree to allow international peacekeepers to patrol eastern Ukraine, where a conflict has killed more than 10,000 people
Syria: Israel, a key US ally, wants to see Iran and Iranian-backed forces away from south-west Syria, in the area next to its border. Mr Trump is likely to raise the issue but analysts say it is not clear whether Mr Putin can make any offer that includes limiting Iran's activities in the country, for example
Why are Trump's allies worried?
During a summit with Nato countries last week, Mr Trump signed a joint statement condemning "Russian aggression".
The question many now ask is whether he will raise the concerns of the allies directly with the Russian president.
It has been widely reported that the European partners have not been briefed about what Mr Trump is really trying to achieve in Helsinki.
What is Nato?
Can Nato survive Trump?
There is a fear that after a tumultuous trip to Europe he will have some warm words for Mr Putin.
Mr Trump bashed Nato allies over their defence spending, said Germany was "controlled by Russia" because of its gas imports and criticised UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan.
What to expect?
It's hard to say. Mr Trump's unorthodox approach to such talks makes any prediction look more like a guessing game, but US advisers have downplayed any chance of major announcements.
Adding an air of mystery is the fact that both will speak in private during their meeting, with only their interpreters expected to be present.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump have met before on the sidelines of summits
As a gesture of a restart in relations, they could agree to restore their countries' diplomatic presence after tit-for-tat expulsions in the last few years, most recently over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in England.
What does it mean for the rest of the world?
A lot. US and Russia have been in different, or even opposing sides on many critical issues - Syria, Ukraine, Crimea, to name a few - that have a global impact.
Add to that the Western sanctions in Russia that Mr Putin says are "harmful for everyone".
But European countries, perhaps more than others, will be watching it very closely. They are in an uncomfortable situation as they fear the Russian threat, but are to some degree dependent on Russian energy supplies.
Mr Trump singled out Germany over the controversial Nord Stream 2 project that will boost Russian gas deliveries to Central and Western Europe across the Baltic Sea. The route bypasses not only Ukraine but also the Baltic states and Poland - all of those countries oppose it.
This all leaves little doubt that the world will be watching to see what happens on Monday.
16 July 2018
The relations between the US and Russia have been far from smile-inducing recently
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are holding a summit in the Finnish capital, Helsinki. Why is this so hotly anticipated?
The US and Russia have long been adversaries but accusations that Moscow interfered in the US presidential election in 2016 have added an extra, bitter ingredient.
Let's take a look.
Why are there US-Russia tensions?
It goes back to the so-called Cold War (from 1945 to 1989) and the hostilities between the US and the then Soviet Union.
They never fought each other directly but differences remained even after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the consolidation of the US as the world's sole superpower.
Fast forward to now, and Mr Putin has made no secret of his determination to reassert Russian power after years of perceived humiliation, often putting his country on a collision course with the US.
How do Russia tensions compare to Soviet era?
Difficult at the best of times, bilateral relations have deteriorated significantly since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. That led the US and others to impose a series of economic sanctions on Russia.
Why is a meeting between these men so important?
Their relationship has become one of the most scrutinised in global affairs, because of claims of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election, which has been denied by Moscow.
US intelligence agencies believe Russia tried to sway the election in Mr Trump's favour.
An investigation into what Russia did and whether any of the Trump team helped them is the subject of an investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, dismissed by the president as a "witch hunt".
Repeatedly he has called it a Democratic conspiracy driven by bitterness at losing the election.
Read more about Crimea
Trump Russia affair: Key questions answered
Since taking office in January 2017, President Trump has sought to improve ties, a stance at odds with traditional Republican party policy.
Last month, he supported Russia's re-admission to the group of industrialised nations - now called G7 - after its suspension following the annexation of Crimea.
What have they said about each other?
Mr Trump has made several comments praising Mr Putin. "Very much of a leader," he said in 2016, "far more than our president has been a leader," in reference to Barack Obama.
Last year, he called Mr Putin a "tough cookie".
In March, he congratulated Mr Putin for his controversial election victory, despite warnings from his advisers not to do so.
Putin and Trump in their own words
Mr Putin has been more guarded in his views about Mr Trump, but has called him a "very bright person, talented" and a "colourful" man in the past.
What will they discuss?
Official statements have lacked details but the talks are likely to include:
Arms control: Both leaders have bragged about their nuclear capabilities and experts say this is one of the key points to watch. US and Russia have a deal called New Start, aimed at reducing and limiting the size of their nuclear arsenals, the two largest in the world. It is in effect until 2021 and any progress in extending it will be seen as a good sign. They are also likely to discuss a missiles treaty signed in 1987 amid mutual accusations of breaches
US sanctions: Those were imposed on companies and individuals over Russia's annexation of Crimea, its support to separatists in eastern Ukraine, its role in the conflict in Syria and its alleged interference in the 2016 election. Congress needs to approve the easing of restrictions but observers say Mr Trump can indicate that the list of those sanctioned will not be expanded, a move that would be welcomed by Russia
Ukraine: The US has given military aid to Ukraine and Mr Putin would be happy to see it scrapped. This, as well as a recognition of Russia's annexation of Crimea, is unlikely to happen. But both leaders can agree to allow international peacekeepers to patrol eastern Ukraine, where a conflict has killed more than 10,000 people
Syria: Israel, a key US ally, wants to see Iran and Iranian-backed forces away from south-west Syria, in the area next to its border. Mr Trump is likely to raise the issue but analysts say it is not clear whether Mr Putin can make any offer that includes limiting Iran's activities in the country, for example
Why are Trump's allies worried?
During a summit with Nato countries last week, Mr Trump signed a joint statement condemning "Russian aggression".
The question many now ask is whether he will raise the concerns of the allies directly with the Russian president.
It has been widely reported that the European partners have not been briefed about what Mr Trump is really trying to achieve in Helsinki.
What is Nato?
Can Nato survive Trump?
There is a fear that after a tumultuous trip to Europe he will have some warm words for Mr Putin.
Mr Trump bashed Nato allies over their defence spending, said Germany was "controlled by Russia" because of its gas imports and criticised UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan.
What to expect?
It's hard to say. Mr Trump's unorthodox approach to such talks makes any prediction look more like a guessing game, but US advisers have downplayed any chance of major announcements.
Adding an air of mystery is the fact that both will speak in private during their meeting, with only their interpreters expected to be present.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump have met before on the sidelines of summits
As a gesture of a restart in relations, they could agree to restore their countries' diplomatic presence after tit-for-tat expulsions in the last few years, most recently over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in England.
What does it mean for the rest of the world?
A lot. US and Russia have been in different, or even opposing sides on many critical issues - Syria, Ukraine, Crimea, to name a few - that have a global impact.
Add to that the Western sanctions in Russia that Mr Putin says are "harmful for everyone".
But European countries, perhaps more than others, will be watching it very closely. They are in an uncomfortable situation as they fear the Russian threat, but are to some degree dependent on Russian energy supplies.
Mr Trump singled out Germany over the controversial Nord Stream 2 project that will boost Russian gas deliveries to Central and Western Europe across the Baltic Sea. The route bypasses not only Ukraine but also the Baltic states and Poland - all of those countries oppose it.
This all leaves little doubt that the world will be watching to see what happens on Monday.
Putin arrives late for Helsinki summit with Trump - live updates - Guardian
Putin arrives late for Helsinki summit with Trump - live updates
US president Donald Trump says relations with Russia have ‘never been worse as he arrives in Helsinki for high-stakes summit with Vladimir Putin
LIVE Updated 3m ago
Matthew Weaver
Mon 16 Jul 2018 20.18 AEST First published on Mon 16 Jul 2018 17.07 AEST
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23m ago Putin arrives in Helsinki
1h ago Putin running late
7m ago
20:18
White House pool reporter Annie Karni, confirms that Trump has delayed leaving the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa, en route to the Presidential Palace.
He was due to depart at 12.40 local time (10.40 BST).
The hold up appears to be on Putin’s end as he has just this moment landed in Helsinki.
There has been no response from Trump’s press secretary Sarah Sanders when she was asked about the delay.
Facebook Twitter Google plus
11m ago
20:15
Putin briskly stepped off his plane, before being greeted on the tarmac. He took of his jacket and waved for the cameras. And then got into his huge new limo.
William Gallo
✔
@GalloVOA
· 25m
Replying to @GalloVOA
Putin is running a bit late, but he's arrived here in Helsinki. pic.twitter.com/JROj8ou7HT
William Gallo
✔
@GalloVOA
He's here: pic.twitter.com/WRGGzEkXNu
8:09 PM - Jul 16, 2018
View image on Twitter
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The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker reminds us that the summit was due to start at 1pm local time (11am BST).
Philip Rucker
✔
@PhilipRucker
Summit was set to begin 11 minutes ago, but leaders are not at the palace yet. It appears Putin is holding up Trump. Keeping people waiting is the Russian president’s MO to assert dominance.
8:12 PM - Jul 16, 2018
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11m ago
20:15
Since you’re here … we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
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16m ago
20:09
The diplomatic gamesmanship continues.
Kaitlan Collins
✔
@kaitlancollins
President Trump and Melania were scheduled to leave their hotel 26 minutes ago. Pool says they are still waiting, presumably on Putin.
Kaitlan Collins
✔
@kaitlancollins
Vladimir Putin — notorious for making people wait — still hasn’t landed in Helsinki. He’s supposed to have his official greeting with President Trump....in 17 minutes.
8:08 PM - Jul 16, 2018
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23m ago
20:03
Putin arrives in Helsinki
Vladimir Putin’s plane has touched down in the Helsinki almost an hour late.
View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
William Gallo
✔
@GalloVOA
Replying to @GalloVOA
Putin is running a bit late, but he's arrived here in Helsinki.
8:01 PM - Jul 16, 2018
See William Gallo's other Tweets
Andrew Roth
@Andrew__Roth
Wondering how Donald Trump stacks up on being made to wait by Putin?Putin is current about 55 minutes late landing in Helsinki, taking him past Pope Francis (50 mins) and approaching Modi (1 hour). Things get bad at Lukashenka (3 hours) and Merkel (4 hours 15 min).
7:55 PM - Jul 16, 2018
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26m ago
20:00
Dmitry Peskov
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman says he hopes the summit will be a “baby step” toward fixing exceptionally bad US-Russian relations, AP reports.
Ahead of Monday’s meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told broadcaster RT that the men had no strict agenda but recognize their “special responsibility” for global stability.
He said European countries shouldn’t be worried about a possible US-Russian rapprochement or decisions about Europe made “over the heads of Europeans.”
Peskov said the Russian leader respects Trump’s “America first” stance because Putin puts Russia first, but said the only way to make progress at the summit is if both sides are open to finding areas of mutual benefit.
Russian officials say Putin is expected to reiterate denials of meddling in the 2016 US presidential campaign.
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30m ago
19:56
Andrew Roth
President of Russia Vladimir Putin touches the World Cup trophy after the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Final
President of Russia Vladimir Putin touches the World Cup trophy after the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Final Photograph: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
The United States is not the only side complaining about cyberattacks ahead of Monday’s summit.
Vladimir Putin told law enforcement officials on Sunday evening that the country had seen a sharp rise in cyberattacks during the World Cup as he thanked Russian law enforcement in person for providing security during the tournament.
“Almost 25 million cyberattacks and other situations of criminal impact on the Russian information infrastructure associated with the organization of the World Cup were neutralized during the championship,” Putin said In Moscow on Sunday evening. The remarks were reported on Monday morning.
Russian officials have pushed the idea of a joint agreement on cybersecurity with the United States for several years. Putin will likely use that fact as a defence when Trump asks about Russia’s election meddling during the 2016 elections, which he said he would “certainly” do in a television interview.
Russia would like an agreement on “informational security,” and includes limits on content that may be objectionable to governments.
That may permit countries to eliminate content from social media sites like Facebook or Twitter that call for protests.
The United States has traditionally defined the issue more closely as cybersecurity, which concerns the use of hacking technology but not content on social media.
Updated at 7.56pm AEST
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33m ago
19:52
Andrew Roth
Putin’s trip to Helsinki marks the first foreign trip for the Russian president’s new Cortege limousine, which was unveiled with great fanfare at his inauguration in May.
The Kremlin pool reporter for Komsomolskaya Pravda, Dmitry Smirnov, snapped a picture of the limousine at Helsinki’s airport where Putin is expected to land more than 45 minutes late.
Дмитрий Смирнов
✔
@dimsmirnov175
Первый зарубежный выезд «Кортежа»: Лимузин ждет Путина в аэропорту Хельсинки
7:32 PM - Jul 16, 2018
The Kremlin pool arrived earlier in a separate plan and have some time on their hands.
At Putin’s inauguration, the limousine drove him about 200m from the Kremlin’s Senate Building to the Andreevsky Hall.
Monday’s route will be slightly more arduous, usually about a 25-minute ride to the city’s Presidential Palace where he will meet one-on-one with Trump.
He has also shown off the limousine to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed.
The domestically produced luxury car was a point of pride for Putin, who used a Mercedes until this year. The state news agency Sputnik wrote that the car was the first domestically produced limousine for a head of state since Mikhail Gorbachev’s Zil-41052 in 1985.
36m ago
19:50
Putin’s lateness is being interpreted as diplomatic gamesmanship. Speaking to CNN while we still wait for Putin’s plane to land in Helsinki, Thomas Pickering, former US ambassador to the UN, said:
Obviously the lateness is something he could have avoided, so it has some intent. That intent obviously is in some ways to level the playing field of publicity about this meeting so that it isn’t all Trump, whatever he’s saying.
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50m ago
19:36
Newspaper billboards in Helsinki attack the record of both Putin and Trump on free speech.
Huff Post UK reports:
Helsingin Sanomat, one of the country’s top news outlets, unveiled nearly 300 billboards calling out the leaders’ respective records of rocky relations with the media. The billboards were placed along the leaders’ route to the summit.
Aside from the welcome billboard which reads “Mr. President, Welcome to the Land of Free Press,” most of the others feature headlines published in the newspaper over the years, according to a press release.
“The headlines highlight the presidents’ turbulent relations with the media and were published between the years 2000 and 2018,” the statement said.
Editor-in-chief Kaius Nieme also explained that the banners are intended as a display of support for “colleagues who have to fight in ever toughening circumstances on a daily basis both in the U.S. and Russia,” noting that both countries sit pretty far down on the 2018 World Press Freedom Index. Russia is ranked 148 and the U.S. sits at 45. Finland is ranked fourth.
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1h ago
19:27
Putin running late
Putin already has the edge in pre-summit posturing by keeping Trump waiting. His plane to Helsinki is reported to be running late.
Norah O'Donnell🇺🇸
✔
@NorahODonnell
Looks like Putin will keep Trump waiting. He’s landing about 45 minutes late at 5:47 EST, just about the time he was supposed to be arriving at the Presidential Palace. #HelsinkiSummit
7:03 PM - Jul 16, 2018
1h ago
19:19
European Council president Donald Tusk has suggested that Trump is spreading fake news by telling CBS that the European Union is a foe of the US.
Donald Tusk
(@eucopresident)
America and the EU are best friends. Whoever says we are foes is spreading fake news.
July 15, 2018
1:26
Donald Trump calls the EU a foe during interview in Scotland - video
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1h ago
19:14
Trump is confident of getting on with Putin, he told Piers Morgan for ITV’s Good Morning Britain on board air force one.
Trump accepted that Putin “probably is” a ruthless person, but couldn’t tell yet.
Good Morning Britain quoted him saying: “I don’t know him… I met him a couple of times… I think we could probably get along very well”
Good Morning Britain
✔
@GMB
'I don’t know him… I met him a couple of times… I think we could probably get along very well'
President Trump confessed to @GMB he didn’t know Vladimir Putin well.
3:24 PM - Jul 16, 2018
101
63 people are talking about this
US president Donald Trump says relations with Russia have ‘never been worse as he arrives in Helsinki for high-stakes summit with Vladimir Putin
LIVE Updated 3m ago
Matthew Weaver
Mon 16 Jul 2018 20.18 AEST First published on Mon 16 Jul 2018 17.07 AEST
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23m ago Putin arrives in Helsinki
1h ago Putin running late
7m ago
20:18
White House pool reporter Annie Karni, confirms that Trump has delayed leaving the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa, en route to the Presidential Palace.
He was due to depart at 12.40 local time (10.40 BST).
The hold up appears to be on Putin’s end as he has just this moment landed in Helsinki.
There has been no response from Trump’s press secretary Sarah Sanders when she was asked about the delay.
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11m ago
20:15
Putin briskly stepped off his plane, before being greeted on the tarmac. He took of his jacket and waved for the cameras. And then got into his huge new limo.
William Gallo
✔
@GalloVOA
· 25m
Replying to @GalloVOA
Putin is running a bit late, but he's arrived here in Helsinki. pic.twitter.com/JROj8ou7HT
William Gallo
✔
@GalloVOA
He's here: pic.twitter.com/WRGGzEkXNu
8:09 PM - Jul 16, 2018
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The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker reminds us that the summit was due to start at 1pm local time (11am BST).
Philip Rucker
✔
@PhilipRucker
Summit was set to begin 11 minutes ago, but leaders are not at the palace yet. It appears Putin is holding up Trump. Keeping people waiting is the Russian president’s MO to assert dominance.
8:12 PM - Jul 16, 2018
294
190 people are talking about this
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11m ago
20:15
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16m ago
20:09
The diplomatic gamesmanship continues.
Kaitlan Collins
✔
@kaitlancollins
President Trump and Melania were scheduled to leave their hotel 26 minutes ago. Pool says they are still waiting, presumably on Putin.
Kaitlan Collins
✔
@kaitlancollins
Vladimir Putin — notorious for making people wait — still hasn’t landed in Helsinki. He’s supposed to have his official greeting with President Trump....in 17 minutes.
8:08 PM - Jul 16, 2018
49
35 people are talking about this
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23m ago
20:03
Putin arrives in Helsinki
Vladimir Putin’s plane has touched down in the Helsinki almost an hour late.
View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
William Gallo
✔
@GalloVOA
Replying to @GalloVOA
Putin is running a bit late, but he's arrived here in Helsinki.
8:01 PM - Jul 16, 2018
See William Gallo's other Tweets
Andrew Roth
@Andrew__Roth
Wondering how Donald Trump stacks up on being made to wait by Putin?Putin is current about 55 minutes late landing in Helsinki, taking him past Pope Francis (50 mins) and approaching Modi (1 hour). Things get bad at Lukashenka (3 hours) and Merkel (4 hours 15 min).
7:55 PM - Jul 16, 2018
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26m ago
20:00
Dmitry Peskov
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman says he hopes the summit will be a “baby step” toward fixing exceptionally bad US-Russian relations, AP reports.
Ahead of Monday’s meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told broadcaster RT that the men had no strict agenda but recognize their “special responsibility” for global stability.
He said European countries shouldn’t be worried about a possible US-Russian rapprochement or decisions about Europe made “over the heads of Europeans.”
Peskov said the Russian leader respects Trump’s “America first” stance because Putin puts Russia first, but said the only way to make progress at the summit is if both sides are open to finding areas of mutual benefit.
Russian officials say Putin is expected to reiterate denials of meddling in the 2016 US presidential campaign.
Facebook Twitter Google plus
30m ago
19:56
Andrew Roth
President of Russia Vladimir Putin touches the World Cup trophy after the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Final
President of Russia Vladimir Putin touches the World Cup trophy after the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Final Photograph: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
The United States is not the only side complaining about cyberattacks ahead of Monday’s summit.
Vladimir Putin told law enforcement officials on Sunday evening that the country had seen a sharp rise in cyberattacks during the World Cup as he thanked Russian law enforcement in person for providing security during the tournament.
“Almost 25 million cyberattacks and other situations of criminal impact on the Russian information infrastructure associated with the organization of the World Cup were neutralized during the championship,” Putin said In Moscow on Sunday evening. The remarks were reported on Monday morning.
Russian officials have pushed the idea of a joint agreement on cybersecurity with the United States for several years. Putin will likely use that fact as a defence when Trump asks about Russia’s election meddling during the 2016 elections, which he said he would “certainly” do in a television interview.
Russia would like an agreement on “informational security,” and includes limits on content that may be objectionable to governments.
That may permit countries to eliminate content from social media sites like Facebook or Twitter that call for protests.
The United States has traditionally defined the issue more closely as cybersecurity, which concerns the use of hacking technology but not content on social media.
Updated at 7.56pm AEST
Facebook Twitter Google plus
33m ago
19:52
Andrew Roth
Putin’s trip to Helsinki marks the first foreign trip for the Russian president’s new Cortege limousine, which was unveiled with great fanfare at his inauguration in May.
The Kremlin pool reporter for Komsomolskaya Pravda, Dmitry Smirnov, snapped a picture of the limousine at Helsinki’s airport where Putin is expected to land more than 45 minutes late.
Дмитрий Смирнов
✔
@dimsmirnov175
Первый зарубежный выезд «Кортежа»: Лимузин ждет Путина в аэропорту Хельсинки
7:32 PM - Jul 16, 2018
The Kremlin pool arrived earlier in a separate plan and have some time on their hands.
At Putin’s inauguration, the limousine drove him about 200m from the Kremlin’s Senate Building to the Andreevsky Hall.
Monday’s route will be slightly more arduous, usually about a 25-minute ride to the city’s Presidential Palace where he will meet one-on-one with Trump.
He has also shown off the limousine to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed.
The domestically produced luxury car was a point of pride for Putin, who used a Mercedes until this year. The state news agency Sputnik wrote that the car was the first domestically produced limousine for a head of state since Mikhail Gorbachev’s Zil-41052 in 1985.
36m ago
19:50
Putin’s lateness is being interpreted as diplomatic gamesmanship. Speaking to CNN while we still wait for Putin’s plane to land in Helsinki, Thomas Pickering, former US ambassador to the UN, said:
Obviously the lateness is something he could have avoided, so it has some intent. That intent obviously is in some ways to level the playing field of publicity about this meeting so that it isn’t all Trump, whatever he’s saying.
Facebook Twitter Google plus
50m ago
19:36
Newspaper billboards in Helsinki attack the record of both Putin and Trump on free speech.
Huff Post UK reports:
Helsingin Sanomat, one of the country’s top news outlets, unveiled nearly 300 billboards calling out the leaders’ respective records of rocky relations with the media. The billboards were placed along the leaders’ route to the summit.
Aside from the welcome billboard which reads “Mr. President, Welcome to the Land of Free Press,” most of the others feature headlines published in the newspaper over the years, according to a press release.
“The headlines highlight the presidents’ turbulent relations with the media and were published between the years 2000 and 2018,” the statement said.
Editor-in-chief Kaius Nieme also explained that the banners are intended as a display of support for “colleagues who have to fight in ever toughening circumstances on a daily basis both in the U.S. and Russia,” noting that both countries sit pretty far down on the 2018 World Press Freedom Index. Russia is ranked 148 and the U.S. sits at 45. Finland is ranked fourth.
Facebook Twitter Google plus
1h ago
19:27
Putin running late
Putin already has the edge in pre-summit posturing by keeping Trump waiting. His plane to Helsinki is reported to be running late.
Norah O'Donnell🇺🇸
✔
@NorahODonnell
Looks like Putin will keep Trump waiting. He’s landing about 45 minutes late at 5:47 EST, just about the time he was supposed to be arriving at the Presidential Palace. #HelsinkiSummit
7:03 PM - Jul 16, 2018
1h ago
19:19
European Council president Donald Tusk has suggested that Trump is spreading fake news by telling CBS that the European Union is a foe of the US.
Donald Tusk
(@eucopresident)
America and the EU are best friends. Whoever says we are foes is spreading fake news.
July 15, 2018
1:26
Donald Trump calls the EU a foe during interview in Scotland - video
Facebook Twitter Google plus
1h ago
19:14
Trump is confident of getting on with Putin, he told Piers Morgan for ITV’s Good Morning Britain on board air force one.
Trump accepted that Putin “probably is” a ruthless person, but couldn’t tell yet.
Good Morning Britain quoted him saying: “I don’t know him… I met him a couple of times… I think we could probably get along very well”
Good Morning Britain
✔
@GMB
'I don’t know him… I met him a couple of times… I think we could probably get along very well'
President Trump confessed to @GMB he didn’t know Vladimir Putin well.
3:24 PM - Jul 16, 2018
101
63 people are talking about this
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin summit: Everything you need to know - Daily Mail
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin summit: Everything you need to know
Donald Trump will head to Helsinki, Finland for a summit with Vladimir Putin
Trump is expected to question Putin over the presidential election meddling
Syria's Bashar al-Assad and annexation of Crimea in Ukraine may be discussed
By MADHVI MAVADIYA
PUBLISHED: 05:17 AEST, 14 July 2018 | UPDATED: 05:17 AEST, 14 July 2018
After Donald Trump’s sojourn in Scotland, the US President is expected to head to Helsinki, Finland where he and Vladimir Putin will hold their first official summit since he was inaugurated in hopes to strike a ‘peace deal’.
Reports have revealed that Trump may question the Russian President about the 2016 presidential election meddling, as well as discuss conflicts in Syria and Ukraine and sanctions that have been imposed by both countries against each other.
At a joint press conference with Theresa May, Trump said that he had been ‘tougher on Russia than anybody. We have been extremely tough on Russia.’
President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit +2
President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit
He then went on to mention how 60 intelligence officers were expelled from the Russian embassy in Washington in response to the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal.
Speaking to reporters at Chequers, Trump spoke about how Russia have denied any involvement in the attack and Putin is expected to do the same at the Helsinki summit when the 2016 election is discussed in relation to the country’s influence against Hillary Clinton.
‘I’m not going in with high expectations but we may come out with very surprising things,’ Trump said, and added that building a relationship with the Russian President was his priority, because it would be ‘good for Russia, good for everybody’.
‘That would be a tremendous achievement if we could do something on nuclear proliferation,’ he said. May highlighted that Trump would be entering a negotiation with the 29-strong NATO military alliance united behind him.
May said: ‘We agree that it is important to engage Russia from a position of strength and unity and that we should continue to deter and counter all efforts to undermine our democracies.’
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump talk during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit +2
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump talk during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit
Here’s everything you need to know about the summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
When is the Trump Putin summit in Helsinki?
The Helsinki summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will be held in Finland’s capital on July 16, 2018, as has been announced by the White House and Kremlin.
What will be discussed during the Helsinki summit?
While the main topics of conversation will be foreign policy and Russian interference in 2016 as Vice President Mike Pence confirmed, other subjects such as Russia’s support of the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and the 2014 annexation of Crimea region of Ukraine may also be discussed, as reported in Time.
Pence said: ‘There are a broad range of issues the President’s going to talk about that need to be addressed.’ He added that this would include the ‘economic relationship with the United States and Russia and countries of the world'.
When questioned whether or not this discussion of the relationship between countries would include election meddling, Pence said: ‘I think there will be a lot of stuff that comes up. He’s discussed that with President Putin before. I would anticipate that he will discuss that with him again.’
Unlike Trump, Putin does not need a big deal out of this meeting in order to feel as if the summit has been a success, as is explained in RFE/RL. Analysis in the Russian newspaper Vedomosti echoed these claims.
‘For Putin, everything that is not a clear failure will seem like a success, while for Trump everything that's not an obvious victory will be interpreted by his critics as a failure, so there will be no firm commitments.
‘Of course, we cannot expect breakthroughs like at the meeting of the heads of the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. in Reykjavik in 1986 (and Putin and Trump are not Gorbachev and Reagan),’ the article read. Trump will need to identify whether or not Russia is misbehaving, while also thawing tensions.
With American relations with Russia being as strained since the Cold War, both Presidents will need to ensure that they are on the same page, especially when it comes to speaking about nuclear arsenals and arms control.
This will be the third face-to-face meeting between the world leaders but the first full summit. Trump and Putin first met at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany and the second was in Vietnam during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.
By repeatedly denying that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election was an attempt to delegitimize him, Trump has tried to thaw tensions between both countries on Twitter.
‘Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election! Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!,’ Trump tweeted.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election! Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!
9:25 PM - Jun 28, 2018
Donald Trump will head to Helsinki, Finland for a summit with Vladimir Putin
Trump is expected to question Putin over the presidential election meddling
Syria's Bashar al-Assad and annexation of Crimea in Ukraine may be discussed
By MADHVI MAVADIYA
PUBLISHED: 05:17 AEST, 14 July 2018 | UPDATED: 05:17 AEST, 14 July 2018
After Donald Trump’s sojourn in Scotland, the US President is expected to head to Helsinki, Finland where he and Vladimir Putin will hold their first official summit since he was inaugurated in hopes to strike a ‘peace deal’.
Reports have revealed that Trump may question the Russian President about the 2016 presidential election meddling, as well as discuss conflicts in Syria and Ukraine and sanctions that have been imposed by both countries against each other.
At a joint press conference with Theresa May, Trump said that he had been ‘tougher on Russia than anybody. We have been extremely tough on Russia.’
President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit +2
President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit
He then went on to mention how 60 intelligence officers were expelled from the Russian embassy in Washington in response to the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal.
Speaking to reporters at Chequers, Trump spoke about how Russia have denied any involvement in the attack and Putin is expected to do the same at the Helsinki summit when the 2016 election is discussed in relation to the country’s influence against Hillary Clinton.
‘I’m not going in with high expectations but we may come out with very surprising things,’ Trump said, and added that building a relationship with the Russian President was his priority, because it would be ‘good for Russia, good for everybody’.
‘That would be a tremendous achievement if we could do something on nuclear proliferation,’ he said. May highlighted that Trump would be entering a negotiation with the 29-strong NATO military alliance united behind him.
May said: ‘We agree that it is important to engage Russia from a position of strength and unity and that we should continue to deter and counter all efforts to undermine our democracies.’
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump talk during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit +2
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump talk during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit
Here’s everything you need to know about the summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
When is the Trump Putin summit in Helsinki?
The Helsinki summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will be held in Finland’s capital on July 16, 2018, as has been announced by the White House and Kremlin.
What will be discussed during the Helsinki summit?
While the main topics of conversation will be foreign policy and Russian interference in 2016 as Vice President Mike Pence confirmed, other subjects such as Russia’s support of the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and the 2014 annexation of Crimea region of Ukraine may also be discussed, as reported in Time.
Pence said: ‘There are a broad range of issues the President’s going to talk about that need to be addressed.’ He added that this would include the ‘economic relationship with the United States and Russia and countries of the world'.
When questioned whether or not this discussion of the relationship between countries would include election meddling, Pence said: ‘I think there will be a lot of stuff that comes up. He’s discussed that with President Putin before. I would anticipate that he will discuss that with him again.’
Unlike Trump, Putin does not need a big deal out of this meeting in order to feel as if the summit has been a success, as is explained in RFE/RL. Analysis in the Russian newspaper Vedomosti echoed these claims.
‘For Putin, everything that is not a clear failure will seem like a success, while for Trump everything that's not an obvious victory will be interpreted by his critics as a failure, so there will be no firm commitments.
‘Of course, we cannot expect breakthroughs like at the meeting of the heads of the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. in Reykjavik in 1986 (and Putin and Trump are not Gorbachev and Reagan),’ the article read. Trump will need to identify whether or not Russia is misbehaving, while also thawing tensions.
With American relations with Russia being as strained since the Cold War, both Presidents will need to ensure that they are on the same page, especially when it comes to speaking about nuclear arsenals and arms control.
This will be the third face-to-face meeting between the world leaders but the first full summit. Trump and Putin first met at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany and the second was in Vietnam during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.
By repeatedly denying that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election was an attempt to delegitimize him, Trump has tried to thaw tensions between both countries on Twitter.
‘Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election! Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!,’ Trump tweeted.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election! Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!
9:25 PM - Jun 28, 2018
U.K. Poisoning Inquiry Turns to Russian Agency in Mueller Indictments - New York Times
U.K. Poisoning Inquiry Turns to Russian Agency in Mueller Indictments
Investigators in Salisbury, England, inspecting a shopping district in April near where the former Russian spy Sergei V. Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were found critically ill the previous month. Suspicions have turned toward current or former agents of a Russian military intelligence service.
By Ellen Barry, Michael Schwirtz and Eric Schmitt
July 15, 2018
LONDON — The same Russian military intelligence service now accused of disrupting the 2016 presidential election in America may also be responsible for the nerve agent attack in Britain against a former Russian spy — an audacious poisoning that led to a geopolitical confrontation this spring between Moscow and the West.
British investigators believe the March 4 attack on the former spy, Sergei V. Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, was most probably carried out by current or former agents of the service, known as the G.R.U., who were sent to his home in southern England, according to one British official, one American official and one former American official familiar with the inquiry, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.
British officials are now closing in on identifying the individuals they believe carried out the operation, said the former American official. At the same time, investigators have not ruled out the possibility that another Russian intelligence agency, or a privatized spinoff, could be responsible.
President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia are to hold a much-scrutinized meeting on Monday in Helsinki, Finland. For months, Mr. Trump has angrily belittled the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. But on Friday, the Justice Department announced a bombshell indictment of 12 G.R.U. officers in the hacking of internal communications of the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton presidential campaign.
The indictment by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, detailed a sophisticated operation, intended to disrupt America’s democratic process, carried out by a Russian military intelligence service few Americans know about. But analysts and government officials say the G.R.U., now known as the Main Directorate of the General Staff, serves as an undercover strike force for the Kremlin in conflicts around the world.
The agency has been linked to Russia’s hybrid war in Ukraine, as well as the annexation of Crimea in 2014. It has been involved in the seizing of Syrian cities on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad. In more peaceful regions, the G.R.U. is accused of creating political turmoil, mobilizing Slavic nationalists in Montenegro and funding protests to try to prevent Macedonia’s recent name change.
The poisoning of Mr. Skripal and his daughter with a military grade nerve agent is a different type of operation, one that falls into the tradition of Russian and Soviet intelligence practices toward traitors. Mr. Skripal served in the G.R.U. for about 15 years but also worked as an informant for MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence service — a rare betrayal among G.R.U. officers, and one that most likely required laborious effort to mitigate damage to the agency’s networks.
Russian officials have denied their country’s involvement in the poisoning of the Skripals, even as their British counterparts have accused the Kremlin of ordering the attack.
Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, left, and his deputy Edward O’Callaghan at a news conference to announce indictments against 12 Russian military officers who are accused of conspiring to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.CreditT.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times
On Sunday, Dmitri S. Peskov, a spokesman for Mr. Putin, dismissed the involvement of the G.R.U. “Russia is in no way involved in this episode,” he said. “We consider this whole thing a major provocation.”
The British investigation seems to be progressing steadily, said Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian intelligence services at the Institute of International Relations Prague.
“They have a pretty good sense of when these people traveled, they’re going to be doing the full thing of checking the face of everyone on the plane, given that this is the land of CCTV,” Mr. Galeotti said, referring to Britain. “At the very least, they have grainy photographs from CCTV of the people they assume were involved.”
He added that the conclusions of the inquiry would have little impact on the military intelligence service.
“From the G.R.U. point of view, what really matters is the opinion of one man,” he said, “and he already knows what they did or didn’t do.”
Relations between Britain and Russia are now deeply strained. In April, Britain and many of its allies, including the United States, expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats — many of them officers with the G.R.U. — as a protest against the poisoning. Russia retaliated with its own expulsions.
Before ordering the expulsions, Britain privately presented its case against Russia to other governments, including evidence that G.R.U. cyberspecialists had hacked the email accounts of Mr. Skripal’s daughter in 2013. Both Mr. Skripal and his daughter were under surveillance before the attack, and her phone was possibly infected with malware to track her whereabouts, the BBC reported this month.
Mr. Skripal’s final post with the G.R.U. was as a high-level personnel administrator, providing him with extensive knowledge of operations and individual agents. He was arrested in Russia in 2004 and later pleaded guilty to espionage, serving six years of a 13-year sentence before he was released in 2010 as part of a spy swap with the United States.
Mr. Skripal was living in Salisbury, England, before the poisoning attack. He and his daughter, who was visiting him from Russia at the time, have since recovered and are living in hiding. The crime’s repercussions continued last week with the death of a 44-year-old British citizen, Dawn Sturgess, who, the police say, most likely accidentally touched residue of the nerve agent used in the attack.
Investigators removing the bench around which the Skripals were found in Salisbury, England, in March.CreditWill Oliver/EPA, via Shutterstock
From the earliest days of the Skripal investigation, the G.R.U. was a suspect, in part because harsh punishment for traitors is part of the agency’s doctrine.
Viktor B. Suvorov, a G.R.U. officer who defected to Britain in 1978, wrote in a memoir that inductees were shown a gruesome film of a defector, strapped to a stretcher, being slowly rolled into a furnace and burned alive. Though his account was disputed by some of his countrymen, it is beyond doubt that G.R.U. defections were rare.
“Once you’re a member of an elite military force like the G.R.U., there is no leaving it,” said Nigel West, a British intelligence historian who has chronicled the lives of many defectors. “They do not defect. G.R.U. are a military, disciplined elite. They know the consequences.”
During the Soviet era, intelligence services had a protocol around assassinations of agents who betrayed their services. It began with a trial, and the sentencing of the traitor to death in absentia. Then the decision would be distributed to counterintelligence officers stationed at Soviet embassies.
A declassified C.I.A. document from 1964 describes K.G.B. assassination teams known as “combat groups,” which consisted of local agents or undercover “illegal staff” stationed all over the world in preparation for killings, known as “wet jobs.” Rather than carrying out the assassination, agents would often use the sentence as leverage to persuade the individual to become a double agent.
In recent years, the Kremlin has steered clear of direct involvement in criminal acts, preferring hybrid operations that cannot be traced to the government, sometimes carried out by retired operatives like the Russian “volunteers” fighting in Ukraine and Syria, who are often veterans of the G.R.U. special forces.
“Our country has come to the understanding that the government should not be committing crimes,” said Dmitri A. Muratov, director of the editorial board at Novaya Gazeta, an independent newspaper that reports on the security services. Hybrid formations, he said, “are close to the government but not of the government.”
He added, “These formations have infiltrated the political life of the country.”
Russian authorities have never disclosed the extent of the damage Mr. Skripal caused the G.R.U., but there are indications it was significant. In “The Devil’s Counterintelligence Dozen,” a book about Mr. Skripal’s years as a British spy, a Russian espionage expert, Nikolai Luzan, writes that the agent might have compromised as many as 300 Russian intelligence officers.
“When a mole is uncovered in any service, you have a massive operation to nail down everything he had access to,” said Mr. Galeotti, the author of “Spetsnaz,” a book about G.R.U. special forces, adding that many colleagues who worked closely with Mr. Skripal would most likely have had their careers ended as part of the sweep.
People leaving the Russian Embassy in London in March after Britain announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats over the use of a nerve agent on British soil.CreditDaniel Leal-Olivas/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
“If people defected earlier in their career, you might find an entire graduating class benched,” he said.
Even after the swap, he was able to damage the G.R.U.’s infrastructure. In 2012, he visited intelligence officers in the Czech Republic who had long felt vulnerable in the face of Russia’s unusually large intelligence presence in the country. Mr. Skripal, who stayed for a long, boozy lunch, was able to help, said a European official.
“In fact, Skripal was able to describe what types of operations they had, how they cover up their people, how they build their teams,” the official said. “He didn’t have to be concrete, to give up concrete names. It contributed to improving our work.”
Over the months that followed, a number of Russian diplomats were expelled from the Czech Republic on suspicion of spying. Mr. Skripal “may have contributed some part of the puzzle” that led to the expulsions, the official said. “Whether he caused them, nobody can tell you.”
In interviews, several former Russian intelligence agents were skeptical that the G.R.U. was behind the attack on the Skripals, in part because of its audacity.
In Soviet times, their more cosmopolitan K.G.B. colleagues referred to G.R.U. officers as “sapogi,” or boots, suggesting that they were tough and rugged but not sophisticated in their methods, said Yuri B. Shvets, a former K.G.B. agent posted to Washington in the 1980s.
“The G.R.U. took its officers from the trenches,” he said, unlike the K.G.B., which recruited from top universities.
Irek Murtazin, who worked closely with the G.R.U. and now covers military affairs for Novaya Gazeta, said that the agency’s assassinations tended to be unshowy affairs.
“He would have died from a heart attack or a stroke, a car would have run him over or a bum would have beat him up,” Mr. Murtazin said. “There wouldn’t have been any Novichok.”
Assassinations, nonetheless, have long been part of Russian and Soviet intelligence practice, Mr. Galeotti said. “That the G.R.U. kills people abroad has been amply demonstrated in a variety of other cases,” he said. “The G.R.U. tends to be more of a kinetic agency — more a bullet in the head rather than an exotic poison. The ultimate point is, from the G.R.U. point of view, it’s the outcomes that matter.”
Follow Ellen Barry, Michael Schwirtz and Eric Schmitt on Twitter: @EllenBarryNYT, @mschwirtz and @EricSchmittNYT.
Ellen Barry reported from London, Michael Schwirtz from Moscow, and Eric Schmitt from Washington.
Investigators in Salisbury, England, inspecting a shopping district in April near where the former Russian spy Sergei V. Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were found critically ill the previous month. Suspicions have turned toward current or former agents of a Russian military intelligence service.
By Ellen Barry, Michael Schwirtz and Eric Schmitt
July 15, 2018
LONDON — The same Russian military intelligence service now accused of disrupting the 2016 presidential election in America may also be responsible for the nerve agent attack in Britain against a former Russian spy — an audacious poisoning that led to a geopolitical confrontation this spring between Moscow and the West.
British investigators believe the March 4 attack on the former spy, Sergei V. Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, was most probably carried out by current or former agents of the service, known as the G.R.U., who were sent to his home in southern England, according to one British official, one American official and one former American official familiar with the inquiry, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.
British officials are now closing in on identifying the individuals they believe carried out the operation, said the former American official. At the same time, investigators have not ruled out the possibility that another Russian intelligence agency, or a privatized spinoff, could be responsible.
President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia are to hold a much-scrutinized meeting on Monday in Helsinki, Finland. For months, Mr. Trump has angrily belittled the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. But on Friday, the Justice Department announced a bombshell indictment of 12 G.R.U. officers in the hacking of internal communications of the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton presidential campaign.
The indictment by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, detailed a sophisticated operation, intended to disrupt America’s democratic process, carried out by a Russian military intelligence service few Americans know about. But analysts and government officials say the G.R.U., now known as the Main Directorate of the General Staff, serves as an undercover strike force for the Kremlin in conflicts around the world.
The agency has been linked to Russia’s hybrid war in Ukraine, as well as the annexation of Crimea in 2014. It has been involved in the seizing of Syrian cities on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad. In more peaceful regions, the G.R.U. is accused of creating political turmoil, mobilizing Slavic nationalists in Montenegro and funding protests to try to prevent Macedonia’s recent name change.
The poisoning of Mr. Skripal and his daughter with a military grade nerve agent is a different type of operation, one that falls into the tradition of Russian and Soviet intelligence practices toward traitors. Mr. Skripal served in the G.R.U. for about 15 years but also worked as an informant for MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence service — a rare betrayal among G.R.U. officers, and one that most likely required laborious effort to mitigate damage to the agency’s networks.
Russian officials have denied their country’s involvement in the poisoning of the Skripals, even as their British counterparts have accused the Kremlin of ordering the attack.
Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, left, and his deputy Edward O’Callaghan at a news conference to announce indictments against 12 Russian military officers who are accused of conspiring to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.CreditT.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times
On Sunday, Dmitri S. Peskov, a spokesman for Mr. Putin, dismissed the involvement of the G.R.U. “Russia is in no way involved in this episode,” he said. “We consider this whole thing a major provocation.”
The British investigation seems to be progressing steadily, said Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian intelligence services at the Institute of International Relations Prague.
“They have a pretty good sense of when these people traveled, they’re going to be doing the full thing of checking the face of everyone on the plane, given that this is the land of CCTV,” Mr. Galeotti said, referring to Britain. “At the very least, they have grainy photographs from CCTV of the people they assume were involved.”
He added that the conclusions of the inquiry would have little impact on the military intelligence service.
“From the G.R.U. point of view, what really matters is the opinion of one man,” he said, “and he already knows what they did or didn’t do.”
Relations between Britain and Russia are now deeply strained. In April, Britain and many of its allies, including the United States, expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats — many of them officers with the G.R.U. — as a protest against the poisoning. Russia retaliated with its own expulsions.
Before ordering the expulsions, Britain privately presented its case against Russia to other governments, including evidence that G.R.U. cyberspecialists had hacked the email accounts of Mr. Skripal’s daughter in 2013. Both Mr. Skripal and his daughter were under surveillance before the attack, and her phone was possibly infected with malware to track her whereabouts, the BBC reported this month.
Mr. Skripal’s final post with the G.R.U. was as a high-level personnel administrator, providing him with extensive knowledge of operations and individual agents. He was arrested in Russia in 2004 and later pleaded guilty to espionage, serving six years of a 13-year sentence before he was released in 2010 as part of a spy swap with the United States.
Mr. Skripal was living in Salisbury, England, before the poisoning attack. He and his daughter, who was visiting him from Russia at the time, have since recovered and are living in hiding. The crime’s repercussions continued last week with the death of a 44-year-old British citizen, Dawn Sturgess, who, the police say, most likely accidentally touched residue of the nerve agent used in the attack.
Investigators removing the bench around which the Skripals were found in Salisbury, England, in March.CreditWill Oliver/EPA, via Shutterstock
From the earliest days of the Skripal investigation, the G.R.U. was a suspect, in part because harsh punishment for traitors is part of the agency’s doctrine.
Viktor B. Suvorov, a G.R.U. officer who defected to Britain in 1978, wrote in a memoir that inductees were shown a gruesome film of a defector, strapped to a stretcher, being slowly rolled into a furnace and burned alive. Though his account was disputed by some of his countrymen, it is beyond doubt that G.R.U. defections were rare.
“Once you’re a member of an elite military force like the G.R.U., there is no leaving it,” said Nigel West, a British intelligence historian who has chronicled the lives of many defectors. “They do not defect. G.R.U. are a military, disciplined elite. They know the consequences.”
During the Soviet era, intelligence services had a protocol around assassinations of agents who betrayed their services. It began with a trial, and the sentencing of the traitor to death in absentia. Then the decision would be distributed to counterintelligence officers stationed at Soviet embassies.
A declassified C.I.A. document from 1964 describes K.G.B. assassination teams known as “combat groups,” which consisted of local agents or undercover “illegal staff” stationed all over the world in preparation for killings, known as “wet jobs.” Rather than carrying out the assassination, agents would often use the sentence as leverage to persuade the individual to become a double agent.
In recent years, the Kremlin has steered clear of direct involvement in criminal acts, preferring hybrid operations that cannot be traced to the government, sometimes carried out by retired operatives like the Russian “volunteers” fighting in Ukraine and Syria, who are often veterans of the G.R.U. special forces.
“Our country has come to the understanding that the government should not be committing crimes,” said Dmitri A. Muratov, director of the editorial board at Novaya Gazeta, an independent newspaper that reports on the security services. Hybrid formations, he said, “are close to the government but not of the government.”
He added, “These formations have infiltrated the political life of the country.”
Russian authorities have never disclosed the extent of the damage Mr. Skripal caused the G.R.U., but there are indications it was significant. In “The Devil’s Counterintelligence Dozen,” a book about Mr. Skripal’s years as a British spy, a Russian espionage expert, Nikolai Luzan, writes that the agent might have compromised as many as 300 Russian intelligence officers.
“When a mole is uncovered in any service, you have a massive operation to nail down everything he had access to,” said Mr. Galeotti, the author of “Spetsnaz,” a book about G.R.U. special forces, adding that many colleagues who worked closely with Mr. Skripal would most likely have had their careers ended as part of the sweep.
People leaving the Russian Embassy in London in March after Britain announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats over the use of a nerve agent on British soil.CreditDaniel Leal-Olivas/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
“If people defected earlier in their career, you might find an entire graduating class benched,” he said.
Even after the swap, he was able to damage the G.R.U.’s infrastructure. In 2012, he visited intelligence officers in the Czech Republic who had long felt vulnerable in the face of Russia’s unusually large intelligence presence in the country. Mr. Skripal, who stayed for a long, boozy lunch, was able to help, said a European official.
“In fact, Skripal was able to describe what types of operations they had, how they cover up their people, how they build their teams,” the official said. “He didn’t have to be concrete, to give up concrete names. It contributed to improving our work.”
Over the months that followed, a number of Russian diplomats were expelled from the Czech Republic on suspicion of spying. Mr. Skripal “may have contributed some part of the puzzle” that led to the expulsions, the official said. “Whether he caused them, nobody can tell you.”
In interviews, several former Russian intelligence agents were skeptical that the G.R.U. was behind the attack on the Skripals, in part because of its audacity.
In Soviet times, their more cosmopolitan K.G.B. colleagues referred to G.R.U. officers as “sapogi,” or boots, suggesting that they were tough and rugged but not sophisticated in their methods, said Yuri B. Shvets, a former K.G.B. agent posted to Washington in the 1980s.
“The G.R.U. took its officers from the trenches,” he said, unlike the K.G.B., which recruited from top universities.
Irek Murtazin, who worked closely with the G.R.U. and now covers military affairs for Novaya Gazeta, said that the agency’s assassinations tended to be unshowy affairs.
“He would have died from a heart attack or a stroke, a car would have run him over or a bum would have beat him up,” Mr. Murtazin said. “There wouldn’t have been any Novichok.”
Assassinations, nonetheless, have long been part of Russian and Soviet intelligence practice, Mr. Galeotti said. “That the G.R.U. kills people abroad has been amply demonstrated in a variety of other cases,” he said. “The G.R.U. tends to be more of a kinetic agency — more a bullet in the head rather than an exotic poison. The ultimate point is, from the G.R.U. point of view, it’s the outcomes that matter.”
Follow Ellen Barry, Michael Schwirtz and Eric Schmitt on Twitter: @EllenBarryNYT, @mschwirtz and @EricSchmittNYT.
Ellen Barry reported from London, Michael Schwirtz from Moscow, and Eric Schmitt from Washington.
Immigration decline costing UK economy billions, says think thank - Independent
July 16, 2018
Immigration decline costing UK economy billions, says think thank
The fall in immigration since Brexit is already costing the UK more than £1bn a year, according to new analysis by an independent think tank.
Global Future, which promotes the benefits of openness, calculates that the loss to the public finances is the equivalent of more than 23,000 nurses or 18,000 doctors.
It also claims that meeting the government’s immigration target of “tens of thousands” will also cost Britain £12bn a year by 2023 – which represents 60 per cent of the funds promised to the NHS by Theresa May as part of a so-called “Brexit dividend“.
The figures are based on forecasts by the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) of the effects on net borrowing and debt under alternative scenarios of high and low migration.
These estimates suggest a surplus of £16.9bn if net migration fell from its peak of 336,000 in the year ending June 2016 to 185,000 by 2021, compared to a surplus of £5.2bn if it fell to 105,000 by 2021.
May refuses to say which taxes will rise to pay for £20bn NHS boost
Government accused of failing to address ‘hostile’ immigration policy
Javid fails to endorse ‘tens of thousands’ immigration target
Global Futures used these estimates to devise what it called a “ready reckoner” of a cost of £150m for every reduction of 10,000 in net migration.
The latest migration figures are due to be released on Monday but net migration had already fallen to 244,000 in the year ending September 2017.
This translates to a cost of £1.35bn every year if net migration remains the same, with even greater losses if it is reduced to less than 100,000 per year.
“Cutting immigration hits our public finances hard,” said Peter Starkings, Global Future’s director.
“The British people may decide that they are happy to pay a bit more tax or see lower investment in our NHS and other public services in return for a reduction in immigration, but that’s a debate we have simply never had.
“What we do know is that the public think immigration has been good for our economy and our culture, and when offered the choice, they routinely choose economic stability over reducing immigration.
“As the government draws up its plans for a post-Brexit immigration policy, they must be honest about the trade-offs at the heart of this debate. This analysis, based on OBR forecasts, shows that lower immigration means lower public investment, higher borrowing, or higher taxes – and meeting the government’s self-defeating target to reduce net migration to tens of thousands a year would blow a giant multi-billion pound hole in the public finances.
“At a time when crucial sectors like our health service are reporting staffing shortages, government should think very carefully about what a restrictive immigration system will do to our country.”
The OBR forecasts assume that migrants and non-migrants will make the same net contributions to public finances if they have the same age and gender.
Other studies reached different results after attempting to take into account other factors such as increased costs to public services and displacement of British workers.
Migration Watch UK, an independent think thank which supports a reduction in immigration, estimated in May 2016 that immigration was costing the UK nearly £17bn a year, although £15.6bn of this was accounted for by non-EEA migrants.
Both Theresa May and her predecessor David Cameron included the pledge to reduce net migration to the “tens of thousands” in their respective Conservative manifestos but failed to hit the target.
Sajid Javid, the home secretary, recently hinted that the UK government may scrap its pledge at a parliamentary panel on immigration.
“I’m not going to get into numbers,” he said. “Clearly the government has been working towards getting net migration down to more sustainable levels, and that objective continues and will continue in a new immigration system as well.”
Immigration decline costing UK economy billions, says think thank
The fall in immigration since Brexit is already costing the UK more than £1bn a year, according to new analysis by an independent think tank.
Global Future, which promotes the benefits of openness, calculates that the loss to the public finances is the equivalent of more than 23,000 nurses or 18,000 doctors.
It also claims that meeting the government’s immigration target of “tens of thousands” will also cost Britain £12bn a year by 2023 – which represents 60 per cent of the funds promised to the NHS by Theresa May as part of a so-called “Brexit dividend“.
The figures are based on forecasts by the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) of the effects on net borrowing and debt under alternative scenarios of high and low migration.
These estimates suggest a surplus of £16.9bn if net migration fell from its peak of 336,000 in the year ending June 2016 to 185,000 by 2021, compared to a surplus of £5.2bn if it fell to 105,000 by 2021.
May refuses to say which taxes will rise to pay for £20bn NHS boost
Government accused of failing to address ‘hostile’ immigration policy
Javid fails to endorse ‘tens of thousands’ immigration target
Global Futures used these estimates to devise what it called a “ready reckoner” of a cost of £150m for every reduction of 10,000 in net migration.
The latest migration figures are due to be released on Monday but net migration had already fallen to 244,000 in the year ending September 2017.
This translates to a cost of £1.35bn every year if net migration remains the same, with even greater losses if it is reduced to less than 100,000 per year.
“Cutting immigration hits our public finances hard,” said Peter Starkings, Global Future’s director.
“The British people may decide that they are happy to pay a bit more tax or see lower investment in our NHS and other public services in return for a reduction in immigration, but that’s a debate we have simply never had.
“What we do know is that the public think immigration has been good for our economy and our culture, and when offered the choice, they routinely choose economic stability over reducing immigration.
“As the government draws up its plans for a post-Brexit immigration policy, they must be honest about the trade-offs at the heart of this debate. This analysis, based on OBR forecasts, shows that lower immigration means lower public investment, higher borrowing, or higher taxes – and meeting the government’s self-defeating target to reduce net migration to tens of thousands a year would blow a giant multi-billion pound hole in the public finances.
“At a time when crucial sectors like our health service are reporting staffing shortages, government should think very carefully about what a restrictive immigration system will do to our country.”
The OBR forecasts assume that migrants and non-migrants will make the same net contributions to public finances if they have the same age and gender.
Other studies reached different results after attempting to take into account other factors such as increased costs to public services and displacement of British workers.
Migration Watch UK, an independent think thank which supports a reduction in immigration, estimated in May 2016 that immigration was costing the UK nearly £17bn a year, although £15.6bn of this was accounted for by non-EEA migrants.
Both Theresa May and her predecessor David Cameron included the pledge to reduce net migration to the “tens of thousands” in their respective Conservative manifestos but failed to hit the target.
Sajid Javid, the home secretary, recently hinted that the UK government may scrap its pledge at a parliamentary panel on immigration.
“I’m not going to get into numbers,” he said. “Clearly the government has been working towards getting net migration down to more sustainable levels, and that objective continues and will continue in a new immigration system as well.”
China's second quarter growth meets expectations at 6.7% =BBC News
July 16, 2018
China's second quarter growth meets expectations at 6.7%
China's economy grew at an annual pace of 6.7% in the three months to June, official data showed, meeting forecasts for the period.
That marked a slight slowdown from a 6.8% expansion recorded in the previous quarter.
The data comes as the government attempts to curb growing debt and as trade tensions with the US escalate.
The US raised the stakes in a trade war last week, listing another $200bn worth of Chinese goods to be hit by tariffs.
Chinese stock markets, which have struggled recently amid the escalating trade dispute between the US and China, traded down slightly on Monday.
How a US-China trade war could hurt us all
US-China trade row: What has happened so far?
"GDP growth eased... on softer global trade and the tightening of financial policy since early 2018," Oxford Economics said in a research note.
It expects slow credit growth and softer real estate activity - along with the "intensifying trade conflict with the US" - to weigh on China's growth in the second half of 2018.
The US slapped tariffs on $34bn of Chinese goods on 6 July, opening the way for a tit-for-tat trade war with the world's second-largest economy.
China retaliated, saying the US had launched the "largest trade war in economic history".
However, Tom Rafferty from the Economist Intelligence Unit said there were also worries about the strength of China's domestic economy.
"The EIU is more concerned about slowing domestic demand within China's economy, with investment persistently weak and consumption also having slowed, and these are much more important drivers of growth than exports," he said in a research note.
China's monthly trade surplus with the US hit a record high of nearly $29bn (£22bn) in June as exports to America remained strong.
US President Donald Trump recently suggested that more than $500bn of Chinese goods could be hit by tariffs. That is almost equal to the value of China's entire goods exports to the US last year.
China's second quarter growth meets expectations at 6.7%
China's economy grew at an annual pace of 6.7% in the three months to June, official data showed, meeting forecasts for the period.
That marked a slight slowdown from a 6.8% expansion recorded in the previous quarter.
The data comes as the government attempts to curb growing debt and as trade tensions with the US escalate.
The US raised the stakes in a trade war last week, listing another $200bn worth of Chinese goods to be hit by tariffs.
Chinese stock markets, which have struggled recently amid the escalating trade dispute between the US and China, traded down slightly on Monday.
How a US-China trade war could hurt us all
US-China trade row: What has happened so far?
"GDP growth eased... on softer global trade and the tightening of financial policy since early 2018," Oxford Economics said in a research note.
It expects slow credit growth and softer real estate activity - along with the "intensifying trade conflict with the US" - to weigh on China's growth in the second half of 2018.
The US slapped tariffs on $34bn of Chinese goods on 6 July, opening the way for a tit-for-tat trade war with the world's second-largest economy.
China retaliated, saying the US had launched the "largest trade war in economic history".
However, Tom Rafferty from the Economist Intelligence Unit said there were also worries about the strength of China's domestic economy.
"The EIU is more concerned about slowing domestic demand within China's economy, with investment persistently weak and consumption also having slowed, and these are much more important drivers of growth than exports," he said in a research note.
China's monthly trade surplus with the US hit a record high of nearly $29bn (£22bn) in June as exports to America remained strong.
US President Donald Trump recently suggested that more than $500bn of Chinese goods could be hit by tariffs. That is almost equal to the value of China's entire goods exports to the US last year.
Trump-Putin summit: 'US foolishness caused Russia tensions' - BBC News
July 16, 2018
Trump-Putin summit: 'US foolishness caused Russia tensions'
President Trump arrived in Finland with First Lady Melania Trump
Donald Trump has said ties with Russia have "NEVER been worse" and blamed US politicians, ahead of his first-ever summit with counterpart Vladimir Putin.
In a tweet the US president denounced his predecessor's "stupidity" and the "rigged" inquiry into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The summit is being held in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, later on Monday.
Some US politicians had called for it to be cancelled after 12 Russians were charged with hacking on Friday.
Live updates: Trump-Putin summit
The defendants - all Russian intelligence officers - are accused of launching cyber-attacks on the 2016 presidential campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
But in his tweet, Mr Trump put the blame for the deterioration of relations with Russia squarely on US domestic forces.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!
4:05 PM - Jul 16, 2018
BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says the tweet is likely to alarm White House advisers, already nervous about the risks of giving too much ground to the Russian leader during the talks.
Many in the West have criticised Moscow for what they regard as its destabilising activities in Ukraine. The US, among others, has imposed sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Why is Trump meeting Putin a big deal?
Who's who in Trump-Russia drama?
The summit - in which the two leaders will be joined only by their interpreters - comes after a tumultuous European tour that saw Mr Trump criticise allies of the US over trade and military spending.
Trump: I have low expectations for Putin meeting
What are the main sources of tension with Russia?
Russia has been criticised in the US because of its military support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria as well as its actions in Ukraine.
Tensions also are high as a result of accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 election in the US. The allegations are being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Mr Trump has consistently denounced the inquiry as a "witch hunt".
Four intriguing lines in Mueller charges
The 12 Russians indicted on Friday were targeted as part of Mr Mueller's investigation.
They are accused of using keystroke-reading software to spy on the chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and hack into the party's computers.
Protesters in Finland have been urging Mr Trump to focus on human rights ahead of his visit.
Top Democrats including party chairman Tom Perez have urged Mr Trump to cancel the talks, saying Mr Putin was "not a friend of the United States".
On the Republican side, Senator John McCain said the summit "should not move forward" unless the president "is prepared to hold Putin accountable".
Russia denies the hacking allegations, and says it is looking forward to the talks as a vehicle for improving relations.
What will be discussed at the summit?
US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said that both sides have agreed the meeting will have no set agenda.
But he said he found it "hard to believe" Mr Putin did not know about the alleged election hacking and the subject would be mentioned.
"That's what one of the purposes of this meeting is, so the president can see eye to eye with President Putin and ask him about it," he told ABC News.
The two leaders will meet at the presidential palace in Helsinki
Mr Trump has also been urged to raise the poisoning of two people in the UK who came into contact with the nerve agent Novichok on 30 June. Investigators believe the incident is linked to the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in March.
Mr Trump elaborated on what would be discussed at the summit during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Theresa May last week.
"We'll be talking about Syria," he said. "We'll be talking about other parts of the Middle East. I will be talking about nuclear proliferation."
An uncertain spectacle
By Lyse Doucet, Chief International Correspondent, BBC News, Helsinki
Both leaders will feel they have won simply by meeting with the eyes of the world upon them.
President Putin, still basking in the glory of hosting the World Cup, will project Russian power as he stands shoulder to shoulder with his American counterpart. There is a lot in this for him.
President Trump will again savour the spotlight as the world's self-proclaimed dealmaker. He attacks allies and admires strongmen like the Russian leader.
His penchant for disruptive diplomacy means he could announce unexpected concessions and startle allies and advisers alike.
There could also be some rewards. A dialogue is crucial. Significant issues ranging from a nuclear arms race to wars in Syria and Ukraine deserve their attention.
But with no agenda, little preparation, and a lot of Trumpian unpredictability, no-one can be certain what will actually happen.
What has Mr Trump been doing so far in Europe?
His tour has included a Nato summit in Belgium and a visit to the UK. Neither passed without controversy.
Following the Nato summit, Mr Trump said the allies had pledged to "substantially" raise their defence budgets but other leaders cast doubt on this claim.
The UK visit also had its ups and downs after Mr Trump told a newspaper the US would probably not give the UK a trade deal under the terms of Mrs May's Brexit plans - and then later appeared to backtrack on this position.
He also said Europe was "losing its character" because of immigration from Africa and the Middle East.
On Sunday, just before he departed for Helsinki, Mr Trump described the European Union as a foe on trade.
He told CBS News that European countries were taking advantage of the US and not paying their Nato bills.
Trump-Putin summit: 'US foolishness caused Russia tensions'
President Trump arrived in Finland with First Lady Melania Trump
Donald Trump has said ties with Russia have "NEVER been worse" and blamed US politicians, ahead of his first-ever summit with counterpart Vladimir Putin.
In a tweet the US president denounced his predecessor's "stupidity" and the "rigged" inquiry into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The summit is being held in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, later on Monday.
Some US politicians had called for it to be cancelled after 12 Russians were charged with hacking on Friday.
Live updates: Trump-Putin summit
The defendants - all Russian intelligence officers - are accused of launching cyber-attacks on the 2016 presidential campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
But in his tweet, Mr Trump put the blame for the deterioration of relations with Russia squarely on US domestic forces.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!
4:05 PM - Jul 16, 2018
BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says the tweet is likely to alarm White House advisers, already nervous about the risks of giving too much ground to the Russian leader during the talks.
Many in the West have criticised Moscow for what they regard as its destabilising activities in Ukraine. The US, among others, has imposed sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Why is Trump meeting Putin a big deal?
Who's who in Trump-Russia drama?
The summit - in which the two leaders will be joined only by their interpreters - comes after a tumultuous European tour that saw Mr Trump criticise allies of the US over trade and military spending.
Trump: I have low expectations for Putin meeting
What are the main sources of tension with Russia?
Russia has been criticised in the US because of its military support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria as well as its actions in Ukraine.
Tensions also are high as a result of accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 election in the US. The allegations are being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Mr Trump has consistently denounced the inquiry as a "witch hunt".
Four intriguing lines in Mueller charges
The 12 Russians indicted on Friday were targeted as part of Mr Mueller's investigation.
They are accused of using keystroke-reading software to spy on the chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and hack into the party's computers.
Protesters in Finland have been urging Mr Trump to focus on human rights ahead of his visit.
Top Democrats including party chairman Tom Perez have urged Mr Trump to cancel the talks, saying Mr Putin was "not a friend of the United States".
On the Republican side, Senator John McCain said the summit "should not move forward" unless the president "is prepared to hold Putin accountable".
Russia denies the hacking allegations, and says it is looking forward to the talks as a vehicle for improving relations.
What will be discussed at the summit?
US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said that both sides have agreed the meeting will have no set agenda.
But he said he found it "hard to believe" Mr Putin did not know about the alleged election hacking and the subject would be mentioned.
"That's what one of the purposes of this meeting is, so the president can see eye to eye with President Putin and ask him about it," he told ABC News.
The two leaders will meet at the presidential palace in Helsinki
Mr Trump has also been urged to raise the poisoning of two people in the UK who came into contact with the nerve agent Novichok on 30 June. Investigators believe the incident is linked to the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in March.
Mr Trump elaborated on what would be discussed at the summit during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Theresa May last week.
"We'll be talking about Syria," he said. "We'll be talking about other parts of the Middle East. I will be talking about nuclear proliferation."
An uncertain spectacle
By Lyse Doucet, Chief International Correspondent, BBC News, Helsinki
Both leaders will feel they have won simply by meeting with the eyes of the world upon them.
President Putin, still basking in the glory of hosting the World Cup, will project Russian power as he stands shoulder to shoulder with his American counterpart. There is a lot in this for him.
President Trump will again savour the spotlight as the world's self-proclaimed dealmaker. He attacks allies and admires strongmen like the Russian leader.
His penchant for disruptive diplomacy means he could announce unexpected concessions and startle allies and advisers alike.
There could also be some rewards. A dialogue is crucial. Significant issues ranging from a nuclear arms race to wars in Syria and Ukraine deserve their attention.
But with no agenda, little preparation, and a lot of Trumpian unpredictability, no-one can be certain what will actually happen.
What has Mr Trump been doing so far in Europe?
His tour has included a Nato summit in Belgium and a visit to the UK. Neither passed without controversy.
Following the Nato summit, Mr Trump said the allies had pledged to "substantially" raise their defence budgets but other leaders cast doubt on this claim.
The UK visit also had its ups and downs after Mr Trump told a newspaper the US would probably not give the UK a trade deal under the terms of Mrs May's Brexit plans - and then later appeared to backtrack on this position.
He also said Europe was "losing its character" because of immigration from Africa and the Middle East.
On Sunday, just before he departed for Helsinki, Mr Trump described the European Union as a foe on trade.
He told CBS News that European countries were taking advantage of the US and not paying their Nato bills.
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