-World to focus on Putin-Trump summit
The most important summit in recent months will be held on Monday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump in Helsinki.
Ahead of the summit and during an interview with the American CBS channel, Trump stated regarding the upcoming meeting that, 'there will not be any bad things' and 'maybe something good will happen.'
From the Russian side, no positive statement on the state of economic relations or optimistic signals regarding sanctions is expected, at least in the short term.
On the other hand, in a statement he made in Brussels last week at the NATO Summit, Trump described Germany's oil and gas deals with Russia as 'not very good,” adding that, 'Germany is paying a high price to Russia for energy and is a prisoner of Russia.”
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized Trump's statement on Germany and accused the U.S. of pressuring Europe to sell its own liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Putin also made the following statement on Trump’s recent remarks, “Trump is a good businessman and is encouraging the supply of American gas to the European market, but we will fight for Russian gas.'
The Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, which the U.S. strongly opposes, will also be a topic of discussion between the two leaders.