The 2018 Russia–United States summit was a summit meeting between United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin (hence also known as the Trump–Putin summit). It took place on July 16, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland. The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially titled the summit as the #HELSINKI2018 Meeting. It was hosted by the President of Finland Sauli Niinistö. The summit focused on improving bilateral ties between the two countries which had been degrading since the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and due to the U.S. Intelligence Community's assessment that Russia tried to meddle with the results of the 2016 U.S. elections.
The summit took place in the Presidential Palace. The event marked the first official meeting between the world leaders after previous unofficial talks between Trump and Putin at the G20 Hamburg and APEC Vietnam summits held in 2017. President Trump will also meet the Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in the Presidential Palace. Topics President Trump announced to be discussed at the summit included the situations in Syria and Ukraine. The United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet his Russian and Finnish counterparts Sergey Lavrov and Timo Soini.
According to the office of the president of Finland, President Niinistö is supposed to hold bilateral meetings with both presidents on the day. On Monday morning, President Niinistö and Mrs. Jenni Haukio welcomed President Trump and Mrs. Melania Trump at their official residence in Mäntyniemi. During the presidents’ meeting, Mrs. Haukio and Mrs. Trump are scheduled to gather for a joint breakfast.
The Helsinki 2018 meeting began at the Presidential Palace after midday (at approximately 1 pm) with President Niinistö officially welcoming President Putin, followed by President Trump. The bilateral discussions between the Russian and American presidents took place in the Presidential Palace’s Gothic Hall; Trump and Putin met with only interpreters present. Their meeting was followed by a wider working lunch in the Hall of Mirrors.
A group of top Senate Democrats are urging Trump to not meet with Putin one-on-one. Eight Senate Democrats including Minority Leader Charles Schumer, Minority Whip Dick Durbin and the top Democrats on the Senate Intelligence (Mark Warner), Foreign Relations (Bob Menendez), Judiciary (Dianne Feinstein), Armed Services (Jack Reed), Appropriations and Banking committees sent a letter to Trump on Saturday making the demand.
President Trump announced on Twitter on July 16 that the relationship between Russia and the USA had 'never been worse'. He blamed this is on 'foolishness and stupidity' on the part of the USA and referenced the ongoing Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections, calling it a 'witchhunt'. He also defended Russia over claims of interference in US elections, from accusations by the FBI amongst other intelligence agencies, saying "President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be." During an interview on the eve of the summit with news broadcaster CBS, Trump called the EU the biggest foe of the United States. Russia was a 'foe in certain aspects'.
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