THE story of the assembly between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki has a beginning and an stop,but no middle.
It began with a statement from the president that the lowly state of Russo-American relations were not the fault of the Russian government for seizing Crimea, shooting down a passenger airliner, and interfering in America’s presidential election or using a banned nerve agent to assassinate citizens of a close ally on its own soil. No,they were the fault “of US foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt”.
It ended with a joint press conference that Senator John McCain described as, and “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.”In the middle was a void,in which the two presidents met with nobody else in the room but their interpreters. For those who watch Mr Trump daily and have observed his habit of being confrontational with other people when at a safe distance and then seeking to please them when face-to-face, this encounter seemed freighted...
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Source: economist.com