Russian-US rift too great for summits to bring detente

Significance

The White House and the Kremlin have released few details of the summit's agenda, though it is known the two presidents discussed alleged Russian election interference, Syria and Ukraine, nuclear arms and economic relations. Trump's talk of inviting Putin to Washington generated strong opposition from critics in both parties.

Impacts

• Mueller investigation indictments full of facts and data are increasingly hard to dismiss; Putin now responds by changing the subject.
• Trump's political adversaries will use his Helsinki performance to underline the 'Russia factor' in the November midterm elections.
• A Trump-Putin meeting could happen on the margins of upcoming multilateral forums.