Political Academy Awards, Fake News and 'Election Meddling': Highlights From Putin-Trump G20 Meet

The long-awaited sit-down meeting between the Russian and US presidents, the first since last July, was expected to feature discussions on a broad range of important topics, from bilateral ties and trade to international and security affairs, including the fate of an important treaty aimed at preventing a new nuclear arms race.

Breaking the Ice
Immediately after the Russian and US delegations gathered in their meeting room and opened the floor to journalists for a brief introduction, a reporter shouted out to President Trump, asking him to "tell Russia not to meddle in the elections!"
The moment, caught on video, evoked an immediate laugh from Putin, with Trump turning to the Russian president and quipping "Don't meddle in the election," waging his finger and smirking.

The leaders' nonchalant reaction to the meddling claims followed years of allegations by US officials and the mainstream media about alleged Russian interference in US politics and President Trump's 'collusion' with the Kremlin, with neither of the claims ever substantiated despite years of investigations.

Observing the throng of journalists noisily jostling their way into the meeting room to photograph the leaders and ask questions, Trump quipped that his meeting with Putin was something akin to the Oscars. "It's like the Academy Awards used to be," he told the Russian president, before adding that it was a "great honour" to meet with him again.

"His representatives, my representatives have many things to discuss, including trade and including some disarmament, little protectionism, perhaps," Trump continued. "We are looking forward to spending some very good time together."

Putin returned Trump's good graces, recalling that the face-to-face talks were the first since July 2018. "We haven't seen one another in a long time, from our meeting in Helsinki," Putin said. "Of course, our officials have been working together, and have given us a good opportunity to follow up on what was agreed in Helsinki," he added.

With journalists reportedly reluctant to leave the room for the closed portion of the talks, Trump reportedly reportedly said "Get rid of them," and turned to Putin, quipping: "Fake news is a great term, isn't it. You don't have this problem in Russia but we do." Putin reportedly responded, in English: "We also have. It's the same."

Along with Trump and Putin, the meeting was attended by other senior Russian and US officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and on the US side, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and National Security Advisor John Bolton. President Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who serve as advisers to the US president, were also present.

The more serious, closed-door portion of the Putin-Trump meeting reportedly lasted about 90 minutes, thirty minutes more than planned, with the leaders discussing subjects including the situations in or with respect to Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Lavrov later confirmed that "questions concerning strategic stability were discussed," likely referring to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, with the US kicking off the procedure to scrap the latter in February, prompting Russia to respond in kind earlier this month.

The nuclear arms issue was one of the most important issues during the talks for the Russian side. On the eve of the summit, Putin told the Financial Times that Moscow was concerned about a lack of practical steps from the US side about renewing New START before it expires in 2021, saying that talks were necessary now to ensure that the key nuclear arms limitation treaty remains in place.

The White House later confirmed that strategic arms talks had taken place, and that the countries would "continue discussion on a 21st century model of arms control, which President Trump stated as needing to include China." In recent months, US officials have repeatedly mentioned the need to incorporate China's nuclear arsenal in any strategic arms treaties, despite Beijing's considerably smaller nuclear stockpile compared to those of the US and Russia.

Despite the personal rapport between the two men, an improvement in relations isn't likely any time soon, according to Szamuely.

"First, Congress will very likely push ahead with impeachment of Trump. And while Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, the lengthy impeachment process will keep the subject of Russia in the headlines and will ensure that Trump takes no risks in reaching any far-reaching agreements with Putin. Second, Trump's national security team will seek to undermine any initiatives of Trump's when it comes to Russia. Mike Pompeo and John Bolton are true believers; they really hate Russia," he said.

"They are not pragmatists of the Nixon-Kissinger mould…Whatever Trump tries to strengthen ties to Russia, they will work against. They, unlike Trump, are skilled Washington players, and they are likely to prevail against their boss. That could change if Trump decides to fire his national security team. Otherwise, nothing much can be expected until 2021," the analyst concluded.