Donald Trump boasts of being a strong man. And that’s exactly what he sees Vladimir Putin.
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The relationship between the American president and his Russian counterpart, who are preparing to find themselves in Alaska on Friday, is that of two oversized ego leaders who say they are admiring, but without necessarily being close and who voluntarily cultivate ambiguity, each thinking of making their interests prevail.
But, while they were close to a “Bromance” during the first term of Donald Trump (2017-2021), the relationship was seriously complicated during the second, the American president being angry with the continuation of the war in Ukraine that he deems “ridiculous”.
He said he wanted to “try the field” on Friday, hoping for a “constructive” discussion with the master of the Kremlin, to whom he says he is ready to say: “You must put an end to this war”.
Right in the eyes
Speaking of the upcoming meeting, the American secretary of state, Marco Rubio, assured Tuesday that the president needed “Vladimir Putin) to see right in the eyes to get an idea”.
Donald Trump deemed “very respectful” on the part of his Russian counterpart to come for this summit on American soil. It will only be the second top-on-one summit between the two men after that of Helsinki in 2018.
Mr. Trump has said that “always good relationships” with Putin, which he describes as “intelligent” and, prides himself on knowing him very well, has also been able to describe him as “completely crazy” while the missiles were raining on Ukraine.
For his part, Vladimir Putin praised the “sincerity” of the republican billionaire for his desire to establish peace in Ukraine.
Since his return to power in January, the American president has made a spectacular rapprochement with Moscow and his leader, who have been banished from the international community since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The two men, aged 79 and 72 respectively, spoke for 90 minutes on the phone on February 12, both displaying great ambitions for this “overhaul” of their relationship. In the process, they had dispatched their highest diplomats for an unprecedented meeting in Saudi Arabia.
But after a series of unsuccessful talks and the pursuit of Russian bombing, Donald Trump was increasingly impatient, saying to himself “very disappointed” by Vladimir Putin.
Putin “speaks well” during the day and begins to bomb everyone in the evening, “he said recently after a telephone call.
Helsinki’s memory
In total, the two leaders met six times, on the sidelines of international meetings in particular, each of these meetings having taken place under the first term of Donald Trump.
In his recent book “War”, the journalist of the Washington Post Bob Woodward wrote that Donald Trump spoke seven times to Vladimir Putin between his departure from the White House in 2021 and his return to power. The Kremlin denied.
But the striking date of their relationship remains that of July 16, 2018 in Helsinki, when MM. Trump and Putin held their first bilateral summit in the Finnish capital.
After a two-hour tête-à-tête, the two men had displayed their will to write a new chapter of relations between Washington and Moscow.
But the American president had aroused an outcry by seeming to take the Russian president of insurance cash that Moscow had not tried to influence the 2016 US presidential campaign, which is unanimously attested by the FBI and the American intelligence agencies.
“I have President Putin who has just said that it was not Russia (…) and I don’t see why it would be,” he said at a press conference.
“Given the history of President Trump in terms of face -to -face meetings with President Putin, I really fear that the latter will consider this as a reward and a new opportunity to extend war more instead of finally looking for peace,” said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen in a statement.
The two leaders have radically different approaches: the American president is putting everything on the transaction, “the agreement”, while the Russian president is in the long term, sure of having time in his favor.
