Wearted ...

The White House disavowed what was presented in the Kremlin almost as a fait there: the official meeting of Putin -tram on the fields of the APEC summit would not be

The handshake Putin -Tramp took place. And negotiations? Danang, Vietnam, November 10, 2017. Photo: kremlin.ru

About the possible meeting of the two presidents during the summit of the organization of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which started in the Vietnamese Dadang, from the very beginning there was conflicting information from both sides. At the time of the readiness of this text, it was only clear that the meeting, if it took place, was most likely informal - “on the sidelines”. Whereas earlier officials gave her a higher protocol status - a separate bilateral meeting “on the fields” of the summit.

"The probability is very high"

From the very beginning, it was the impression that Moscow was interested in such a meeting even more than Washington, and statements, designed in the spirit of cautious optimism, was trying to push the Americans to similar steps.

On November 8, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov said that the probability of Putin and Trump at the APEC summit in Vietnam is very high. He explained that the protocol services of the presidents are trying to find a convenient time and format for this meeting - both leaders have a very dense schedule of stay at the summit.

“Putin and Trump have a rich program of bilateral meetings, which were agreed on in advance. In addition, there is a program of the APEC summit itself. Therefore, in this case, the relevant services are trying to choose the most suitable time and format ( for this meeting. - NT), ”said Peskov.

On November 9, the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Yuri Ushakov spoke much more confidently: most likely, the meeting of the two leaders will be held on November 10, he said.

However, in the morning of November 10, Dmitry Peskov was forced to admit that “there is no clarity yet”: “The discussion continues through the protocol services. Conflicting information comes from our American colleagues. ” But he promised that "one way or another, the meeting would take place on the sidelines."

From the very beginning it was the impression that Moscow was interested in such a meeting even more than Washington, and statements withsteding in the spirit of cautious optimism, trying to push the Americans to similar steps

And the head of the Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, proposed to redirect the issue of the possibility of meeting the highest level of "American bureaucrats." “Contact the Americans. We heard Trump’s statement that he wants to meet with Putin ... What the rest of his “bureaucrats” say to this, I don’t know, ask them, ”said Lavrov.

Finally, Yuri Ushakov, commenting on the same topic during the day of the 10th, used the expression new for the protocol-“on his feet”. “They can meet on their feet as part of the summit,” said Putin's assistant. Ushakov did not specify whether this means only a handshake on the go, or is it about the possibility of a short conversation standing or during a joint passage along the corridor.

Unofficial - possible

From the very beginning, the American side referred to the tough schedule of two leaders, but at the same time her statements about a possible meeting sounded more restrained. The Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, speaking on November 9 at a briefing in China, refused to report whether Putin and Trump in Vietnam would meet, although he confirmed that officials from two sides are trying to determine whether there is something significant that the presidents need to be discussed. At the same time, Donald Trump himself earlier - before going on an almost two -week trip in Asia - on November 4, in an interview with the American television company Fox News : “Putin is very important because they ( Russians. - NT) can help us and North Korea. They can help us with Syria. We need to talk about Ukraine. ”

However, the White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, talking with reporters on board the presidential aircraft already heading to Vietnam, told reporters that no official meeting between Putin and Trump was planned. “They will be in one place,” she commented. - And what? They just stumble upon each other and say: “Hello”? Of course, this is possible and probably. ”

Already before the APEC summit, the team of the prosecutor’s prosecutor Müller, as part of Rashagate, interrogated Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller. Most likely, Trump's entourage convinced him that now is not the best background for official meetings with Putin

Follow the gestures

If Putin and Trump still “collide” on the sidelines of the summit, this will be the first meeting of the two presidents after negotiations on July 7 in Hamburg at the Great Twenty summit. The American television companyCNN called that conversation on the G20 “political fiasco” Donald Trump, since he did not express a fairly tough position about Russia's intervention in the American presidential election in 2016.

And now in the United States, an investigation of Russia's intervention in the elections, the so -called Rashagate, which the special prosecutor Robert Müller and his team are engaged in, and completely reached a new stage. Already surrendered to the hands of justice, although they did not admit their guilt, the ex-head of the election headquarters of Trump Paul Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates. Even if the charges against him do not concern the election campaign itself, the arrest of Manafort is, of course, a blow to the reputation of the Trump team. The ex-adviser of Trump on foreign policy George Papadopoulos has already testified-and they indicate that after the beginning of the election campaign, people from the Trump team held meetings with Russian representatives, discussing the topic of elections in the United States and compromising on Trump's rival Hillary Clinton, and they tried to hide in every way.

On November 10, on the day when the world media was waiting for the meeting of Trump and Putin, the American publication Politico , citing his sources, reported that the mysterious citizen of Russia, who met with papadopoulos in London under the guise of his native of Russian President Vladimir Putin and who allegedly promised him to arrange a meeting with the Russian president, was called Olga Vinogradova . “The name that was not previously reported has acquired the new significance for federal investigators, trying to better understand the role of the woman that papadopoulos initially described in electronic letters to colleagues in the headquarters as“ Putin’s niece ”. He later learned that she was not a relative of the Russian president, ”the Politico article says. Vinogradova - the surname in Russia is common, and “who is Olga Vinogradova - it was not possible to determine immediately,” writes Politico, recalling that the Russian special services rely largely on intermediaries who have hidden ties with the Kremlin, including professors, businessmen, oligarchs, and also use “honey traps” - attractive women who lure their facilities for illegal communication, which, which is inherent, which is, which can be used for blackmail.

A few days before the summit, it also became known that among the priority candidates for the arrest of the command of the special prosecutor Muller, the ex-adviser of the National Security President Michael Flynn, who tried to hide the fact of telephone conversations with the Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak in December 2016, was discussing-and they discussed, among other things, and the possibility of mitigating the sanctions against Russia, for which they paid for which and for which they paid for which position.

In addition, the Müller team interrogated former employees of Trump-the head of his election headquarters Reins Pribus and ex-press secretary Sean Spicier.

Finally, before the APEC summit, as part of Rashagate, Senior Councilor of the White House Stephen Miller was interrogated, and the upcoming interrogation of the Director of the White House on the communications of Hope Hicks is planned to be done in mid -November, immediately after the president’s Asian tour.

Most likely, Trump's environment convinced him that now it is not the best background for official meetings with Putin.

By the way, to the question of the CNN correspondent, whether Trump will raise the theme of Rashagate during a meeting with the Russian leader in Vietnam, if it takes place, the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at a briefing on November 9 in China, laconically replied: “This remains in the list of topics.”

“So carefully monitor the sometimes awkward language of the gestures when they ( Putin and Trump. - NT) will be together in public,” Usa Today called.

However, the language of the body moved only to the mutual handshake of Putin and Trump during a common photo shoot. And when Trump left a farewell dinner ahead of schedule for the summit participants, it became completely clear: his meetings with Putin, neither “on his feet”, nor “on the fields”, nor “on the sidelines”.

"Is there any prospect of Russian-American relations today?" - This question NT asked experts behind the ocean. In response, they remembered the recent “Valdai” speech of Putin, which consisted of two -thirds of US criticism

* Timothy Fry, * Professor of Colombian University (USA): Putin sent a clear signal to the West: there is no need to expect any changes in the Russian foreign policy course. The watershed between Russia and the United States passes on all key topics - Crimea, Syria, Iran and so on. It is only necessary to regret that other, really important, areas of interaction suffer from this - military, nuclear disarmament and even student exchange programs ... But Russia is objectively much more interested in good relations with the United States than the United States - in good relations with Russia.

At the same time, some American approaches deserve critics. For example, I am against the idea of ​​registering the Russian RT Russian television company as a foreign agent, which Russia has already threatened with “mirror” response measures. It would be a cruel mistake on our part. After all, the United States thus, as it were, recognize the certain influence of Russian propaganda on the minds in America and put a government horn on one board with such world media as CNN. But it is precisely on CNN that, most likely, that Russian “mirror measures” will come. Why exaggerate RT? For example, I do not know the people who watch this channel in the USA ...

* Seva Gunitsky, * Professor of the University of Toronto (Canada):
Putin’s biggest mistake is not at all trusting, which he stated in his “Valdai” speech, but the annexation of Crimea. He obviously did not expect the US reaction would be so tough and real sanctions will follow that will hit the economy of Russia. In addition, he does not understand how the state entitled “The United States of America” works - as a result, having received the desired president of the United States, Moscow simultaneously received a new package of sanctions and an unprecedented deterioration in relations with Washington.

Unlike Soviet leaders, Putin, as a politician, is not ideologized, he is rather a cynical pragmatist. I would even define the course he conducted as paranoid pragmatism. I do not see any attempts from the Kremlin to improve relations with the West. ”