U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold their first summit on July 16 in Helsinki, Finland.

The meeting comes at a time of uneasy relations between their countries. İn recent years, the two sides have disagreed about a number of issues. They include Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict and its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In addition, United States officials have accused Russia of attempting to influence the 2016 U.S. elections.

Before Trump arrives in Finland, he will attend a NATO meeting in Belgium, and make stops in Britain and Scotland. Speaking to reporters before he left for Europe, the president predicted his talks with Putin may be the “easiest” during his trip.

While Trump said he “can't say right now” whether Putin is a friend or enemy, he did call the Russian president a “competitor.”

Helsinki has a rich history of high-level negotiations between the leaders of the nuclear powers. It will be the fourth time the top leaders from the two sides will meet there. Finland has historically been used as neutral territory since Russia was part of the Soviet Union. It was chosen as a place for the two sides to hold high-level talks on major issues.

Finland fought Soviet forces during World War II and signed a cooperation deal with the Soviet government in 1948. Before the Soviet Union collapsed, Finland permitted Soviet influence on its national and international policies, while officially keeping its independence.

The Finnish government sought to keep an even balance between the Soviet Union and the United States. Both powers used Finland as a base for intelligence-gathering operations.

Aliqismet BADALOV,
“Khalq qazeti”