CNN: Trump to speak with Putin, Merkel and Abe in day of calls
(CNN)US President Donald Trump will speak Saturday by telephone with five world leaders -- most significantly Russia's Vladimir Putin and Germany's Angela Merkel -- in what may be his biggest day of diplomacy yet.
Saturday's call will be Trump's first phone conversation with the Russian President since his inauguration last week, and one whose outcome will be closely studied.
Both Trump and Putin have said they would like to see warmer ties between their two nations. However, relations between Trump and his team and Russia have been under scrutiny following allegations that Moscow meddled in the US election last year.
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WNU Editor: I expect nothing substantial from the Trump - Putin conversation .... just a general discussion and a commitment for more talks and a one-to-one meeting at the G20 summit.
2 comments:
If they are not going to discuss anything substantive, then don't waste time!! I'm pretty sure Mr. Putin wouldn't waste time on a phone conversation in which nothing of substance was going to be discussed. As for Mr. Trump, perhaps he gets good optics speaking with a person like Mr. Putin and Mr. Putin might allow time to be wasted in order to accomplish something later but Mr. Putin does not need the optics. Mr. Trump does. So why give him something while getting nothing in return. As such, for Mr. Putin to agree to all Mr. Trump to call him they had to have discussed something of substance.
I suspect Syria was discussed. Recently Russia signed a long term basing deal with Syria, the US sent an envoy to meet with the Syrian government, the rebels may be in the process of uniting to fight ISIS, and Mr. Trump has voiced support for safe zones in Syria for those trying to escape.
I suspect the US envoy explained to the Assad government that they would not be targeted by the Trump Administration essentially acknowledging Assad as the leader of Syria. This was likely explained to the "rebels" as well. Now the rebels may be in the process of uniting to fight ISIS. Russia's basing agreement solidifies the fact that Assad is here to stay and strengthens Russia's position as the dominant power in the Middle East and perhaps the world. This is something team Trump and the US government will simply need to acknowledge.
Admittedly I could be wrong and these pieces may not even fit together properly. Even if they do, much can still go wrong. For example, are the rebels really going to fight ISIS and Al Qaeda when many of them have ties and even high ranking leadership who have close to these organizations? What is Assad offering them to get them to unite and fight Al Qaeda and can the rebels be trusted to honor any agreement? Can Assad be trusted? In regards to any agreements made between the United States and Russia, can team Trump be trusted to keep their agreement and even if they can unscrupulous elements within the US government be prevented undermining any agreements?
"I expect nothing substantial from the Trump - Putin conversation .... "
I disagree. The first phone call is going to be the most important one. If I was Trump or Putin for that matter, I'd be very keen to discuss ongoing issues in detail. It's also the phone call that sets up future meetings and to establish closer relations. The face-to-face talks will no doubt be of greater importance, but I'd be very surprised if they did not discuss 'substantial' issues in this phonecall.
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