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"Mr. Trump, who before the meeting seemed to be moving toward a newly tough position on Russia — threatening “very severe consequences” if there was no cease-fire and even suggesting that Mr. Putin was playing him — seemed here to revert to his longstanding admiration for “Vladimir” (Mr. Putin did not publicly reciprocate with “Donald”). Mr. Trump happily mocked the accusations of Russian meddling in American elections — the “Russia, Russia, Russia hoax,” as he referred to it — and effusively thanked Mr. Putin for an “extremely productive meeting.” On Ukraine? Mr. Trump said “many points were agreed to” and spoke of “great progress” and “some headway,” all without any details, but acknowledged that “there’s no deal until there’s a deal.” He said he’d be calling key NATO leaders and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to give them a readout.
Those calls may shed more light on whatever understanding the two presidents reached, and it remains possible that the meeting did achieve something that could be called progress. But it was hard to avoid the impression that Mr. Putin had once again succeeded in gaining more time for his war, which is currently going his way. When Mr. Putin quipped — in English — that the next summit should be in Moscow, Mr. Trump seemed delighted: “Ooh, that’s an interesting one,” he said, “I don’t know. I’ll get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening.”
More likely, Mr. Trump may simply lose interest in trying to end the war. When he said he’d be calling Mr. Zelensky and the Europeans, he added, “Ultimately it’s up to them.” Again, he did not elaborate, but given Mr. Trump’s faith in his deal-making skills and his gut instincts, it sounded like he was prepared to let this one go. That would explain Mr. Putin’s cheeriness — and would be a blow to Ukraine."
Link
Is it incompetence, the pee tape or just more Russian collusion on Trump's part?
If anyone believed there would be a different outcome, they were kidding themselves.
Those calls may shed more light on whatever understanding the two presidents reached, and it remains possible that the meeting did achieve something that could be called progress. But it was hard to avoid the impression that Mr. Putin had once again succeeded in gaining more time for his war, which is currently going his way. When Mr. Putin quipped — in English — that the next summit should be in Moscow, Mr. Trump seemed delighted: “Ooh, that’s an interesting one,” he said, “I don’t know. I’ll get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening.”
More likely, Mr. Trump may simply lose interest in trying to end the war. When he said he’d be calling Mr. Zelensky and the Europeans, he added, “Ultimately it’s up to them.” Again, he did not elaborate, but given Mr. Trump’s faith in his deal-making skills and his gut instincts, it sounded like he was prepared to let this one go. That would explain Mr. Putin’s cheeriness — and would be a blow to Ukraine."
Link
Is it incompetence, the pee tape or just more Russian collusion on Trump's part?
If anyone believed there would be a different outcome, they were kidding themselves.
