The last time an American president held a summit with President Vladimir Putin of Russia – July 16, 2018, in Helsinki – happened to be my first day working at the White House as the National Security Council director for European and Russian affairs. It was not the usual mundane Day 1 of H.R. meetings, to put it mildly. Instead, I was thrust into a vortex of unending press inquiries and hasty meetings with other National Security Council staff members. We were all responding to frantic calls from embassies and congressional aides demanding comments and clarification on President Donald Trump’s bizarre assertion that he seemed to believe Mr. Putin’s (false) denials of interference in the 2016 election at least as much as the assessment of the United States intelligence community.
OP-ED
Alexander Vindman: Putin is still winning
Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves the 'Villa la Grange' after his meeting with U.S President Joe Biden in Geneva, Switzerland in Geneva on June 16, 2021.
