2:31Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump shake hands before a meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
During his initial term, President Donald Trump encountered Russia’s Vladimir Putin on six occasions, yet one particular instance was especially memorable.
This occurred in Helsinki, Finland, in 2018 when Trump, standing alongside him, indicated that he accepted Putin’s denial of Russian interference in the 2016 election over the conclusions drawn by U.S. intelligence.
At that moment, Trump remarked that relations between the U.S. and Russia had "never been worse" prior to their meeting, but that had now "changed."
Currently, Trump is preparing for his first direct meeting with Putin during his second term at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.
The context for Friday’s eagerly awaited summit is considerably more somber, given Russia’s continuous aggression against Ukraine and Putin’s role as a significant obstacle to Trump’s declared aim of resolving the conflict.
This meeting will highlight their connection—one that Trump claimed during the 2024 campaign was so robust that he could resolve the conflict on his first day in office or even beforehand.
"It appears that Donald Trump once believed he had a solid understanding of Putin and maintained a good relationship with him, but in recent months, we’ve witnessed a shift in his perspective, leading to increased frustration with Putin. I believe he’s becoming more realistic regarding the potential outcomes of the meeting," stated Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump shake hands before a meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Trump labeled Putin a "strong leader" during his first term and referred to him as a "genius" shortly after the initial invasion of Ukraine.
In the early days of his second term, Trump expressed that Putin would be "generous" in peace negotiations, while Ukraine would be more challenging.
Trump made various public requests of Ukraine, insisting that it would need to abandon its aspiration to join NATO and possibly relinquish certain territories, while notably refraining from establishing any similar limitations for Russia.
The president even expressed empathy for Putin’s status as an international outcast, stating in February that he would "love" for Russia to rejoin the Group of Seven nations and that it was a mistake for Moscow to have been removed from the assembly of global leaders following Putin’s annexation of Crimea.
"Look, nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together, OK?" Trump remarked earlier this spring.
However, in recent months, Trump’s attitude towards Putin has changed.
"I’ve always maintained a very positive relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has changed in him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!" Trump posted on his social media platform in late May.
Trump has consistently voiced his "disappointment" in the Russian president as hostilities escalated between Russia and Ukraine this summer.
In July, Trump expressed his frustration with the "bull—- thrown at us by Putin." "He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless," he stated.
"We're not happy with Putin. I'm not happy with Putin. I can tell you that much right now, because he's causing a lot of deaths," Trump remarked.
Trump has ensured that American-made arms are supplied to Ukraine through an agreement with European allies and recently imposed significant
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
