Former National Security Council official for Russian and European affairs Fiona Hill during Sunday’s broadcast of NBC’s “Meet the Press” called last week’s summit with President Biden a “very important win” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Hill testified during former President Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial.
Hill said, “In terms of the symbolism of having a sit-down with the American president, absolutely, that is a very important win for Putin But it’s not a win if nothing happens out of it. That is just an episodic event, and you know he can’t take that to the bank for a long time and cash it in. He’s got to basically present himself at home as the great statesman because he himself has to subject his presidency to a reelection.”
She added, “So Putin has got to figure out how to navigate things, he can’t just basically live off an episodic meeting with the United States president in Geneva for months to come. So he has got to show something out of it. The problem with the previous administration, with President Trump, for Vladimir Putin is fantastic meetings from his perspective. He was able to push all of our political buttons — make fun of us, humiliate us, always have sit-downs that he wanted to or telephone calls, but he never got any kinds of agreements. And so that really, you know, wasn’t all that worthwhile. So he has to get something out of this as well.”
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