Vladimir Putin is no stranger to high-level talks with US presidents. Over his decades as Russia’s leader serving either as president or prime minister he has held high profile meetings with five American presidents.On Friday, he will meet Donald Trump in Alaska. This meeting is considered one of the most critical since the Russia-Ukraine conflict and their controversial 2018 summit in Helsinki, Finland. It will be their first meeting of Trump’s second term. Trump has made ending the conflict a top priority, setting an August 8 deadline for Putin to agree to a ceasefire or face tough sanctions. That deadline has passed without an agreement. The Alaska meeting will also mark Putin’s first visit to the United States since 2015 and his eighth overall as president, as reported by ABC News. Putin has met every US president since Bill Clinton, but such meetings have become less common in recent years, particularly after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, military intervention in Syria in 2015 and interference in the 2016 US election. No US president has visited Russia since Barack Obama attended the G20 summit in St Petersburg in 2013.
Bill Clinton:
Vladimir Putin and Bill Clinton first met when Putin was serving as Russia’s prime minister. However, their first official summit took place in June 2000 in Moscow, as Clinton’s presidency was nearing its end and Putin had just assumed the presidency.The meeting, held nearly a decade after the end of the Cold War, centered largely on arms control.Speaking at a press briefing, Clinton said of Putin, “I think he is fully capable of building a prosperous, strong Russia while preserving freedom and pluralism and the rule of law. It’s a big challenge. I think he’s fully capable of doing it.”Putin, in turn, described Clinton as a “very experienced politician”.“In my mind, we’ve established now not only good business ties, but also personal relations. For me, President Clinton is a person who is a very comfortable and pleasant partner in negotiations,” Putin said.
George W Bush :
George W Bush and Vladimir Putin held their first summit in Slovenia in June 2001. After the meeting, Bush called it “an important step in building a constructive, respectful relationship with Russia.”When asked if he could trust Russia, Bush said that he found Putin “very straightforward and trustworthy ”. Putin described their discussion as “very interesting and positive”. The two leaders went on to meet several more times, including a 2002 visit to Moscow where they signed a treaty to reduce their countries’ nuclear arsenals. Putin also made multiple trips to the US, visiting Bush’s ranch in Texas and his family home in Kennebunkport, Maine.However, relations strained over the years, particularly after Russia opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Tensions grew in 2008 during the Beijing Summer Olympics, when Bush confronted then–Prime Minister Putin over Russia’s military assault on neighboring Georgia.
Barack Obama:
During the early years of Barack Obama’s presidency, Vladimir Putin served as Russia’s prime minister. Obama first met Putin in July 2009 in Moscow, alongside then–Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. At the time, Obama said he wanted to engage not only with his official counterpart but also with Putin and “all other influential sectors in Russian society” to better understand the needs and concerns of the Russian people.Putin returned to the presidency in 2012. The following year, the White House canceled a planned Moscow summit, citing Russia’s “disappointing decision” to grant asylum to US national security leaker Edward Snowden and the lack of progress on the bilateral agenda.Relations worsened further after Russia’s 2014 invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea, as well as Moscow’s military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Washington had called to step down. Obama and Putin did not hold a formal meeting again until September 2015, when they met at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This was Putin’s last visit to the US before the planned Alaska summit.
Donald Trump – 1st term:
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin first met as presidents in July 2017 during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. One of their most notable and controversial summits came a year later in Helsinki, in July 2018, where the two leaders held a private meeting for nearly two hours with only interpreters present.After the press conference, while standing next to Putin, Trump appeared to believe Putin’s denial of election interference instead of US intelligence reports.“[Putin] just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be,” Trump said. He added, “I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”When asked why Trump should believe Moscow’s denial, Putin replied, “You can trust no one,” dismissing US intelligence conclusions as “utter nonsense.” He also admitted he wanted Trump to win the 2016 election because the Republican candidate spoke about restoring US-Russia relations.The remarks sparked widespread bipartisan criticism in Washington. The next day, Trump walked back his statement, saying he had misspoken and meant to say, “I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.”Later in 2018, Trump canceled a planned meeting with Putin at the G20 summit in Argentina, citing Russia’s refusal to release Ukrainian Navy ships and sailors seized near Crimea.
Joe Biden :
Joe Biden has met with Vladimir Putin once during his presidency in Geneva in June 2021. Biden requested for the high-stakes meeting amid growing concerns over Russia’s military aggression toward Ukraine.After more than three hours of talks, Biden described the meeting as “positive”. Putin called the discussion “quite constructive” but insisted that Russia’s actions in Ukraine were not America’s concern.
