Expert's take on Trump-Putin summit
- 6 years ago
For an expert's take on the superpower summit in Helsinki between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin,… I'm joined live on Skype by (E-len-ah) Elena Sokova, Deputy Director at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California.
Before we get to the summit, there were calls from senior Democrats that President Trump call off this meeting - as we know he didn't heed those calls - but they said because of this issue that emerged over the past few days - to do with the Mueller indictments that came down last Friday against the Russian military intel officers that are said to have seriously meddled in the 2016 election - he should have canceled it, where do you stand on the issue: was President Trump right to take this summit with President Putin?
We know that there's an extremely challenging and complex relationship between the U.S. and Russia, but President Putin said the Cold War is a thing of the past during the press conference. When we see the serious issues related to Syria, Ukraine, NATO's expansion and arms control. Do you agree with Putin's assessment that things really aren't that bad?
Your specialization is arms control, when it comes to the arms control deal -- the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or new START -- that expires in 2021: hearing what Trump and Putin had to say do you think the two sides are any closer to moving forward on that issue? And can you foresee a point where the two sides slash their nuclear stockpiles?
The U.S. says Russia is not reliable when it comes to reducing the number of nuclear warheads , Moscow on the other hand accuses NATO of expanding further and further east… how can they find some common ground when it comes to those differences?
Finally, before we let you go, I'd like to ask you about North Korea. Both leaders touched upon it during the press conference. Trump said he was confident the two sides will work together to end Pyongyang's nuclear threat. Despite being a key player in the region, there's a degree of confusion about where Putin stands on the matter. Can you elaborate on how the Russian leader sees the situation,... especially this move toward finding a diplomatic solution.
(E-len-ah) Elena Sokova, Deputy Director at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, we appreciate your insights this morning. Thank you.
Before we get to the summit, there were calls from senior Democrats that President Trump call off this meeting - as we know he didn't heed those calls - but they said because of this issue that emerged over the past few days - to do with the Mueller indictments that came down last Friday against the Russian military intel officers that are said to have seriously meddled in the 2016 election - he should have canceled it, where do you stand on the issue: was President Trump right to take this summit with President Putin?
We know that there's an extremely challenging and complex relationship between the U.S. and Russia, but President Putin said the Cold War is a thing of the past during the press conference. When we see the serious issues related to Syria, Ukraine, NATO's expansion and arms control. Do you agree with Putin's assessment that things really aren't that bad?
Your specialization is arms control, when it comes to the arms control deal -- the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or new START -- that expires in 2021: hearing what Trump and Putin had to say do you think the two sides are any closer to moving forward on that issue? And can you foresee a point where the two sides slash their nuclear stockpiles?
The U.S. says Russia is not reliable when it comes to reducing the number of nuclear warheads , Moscow on the other hand accuses NATO of expanding further and further east… how can they find some common ground when it comes to those differences?
Finally, before we let you go, I'd like to ask you about North Korea. Both leaders touched upon it during the press conference. Trump said he was confident the two sides will work together to end Pyongyang's nuclear threat. Despite being a key player in the region, there's a degree of confusion about where Putin stands on the matter. Can you elaborate on how the Russian leader sees the situation,... especially this move toward finding a diplomatic solution.
(E-len-ah) Elena Sokova, Deputy Director at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, we appreciate your insights this morning. Thank you.