2025-08-16
50 分钟The Economist.
The two presidents came out looking relaxed.
Short sleeves and khakies on one, tucked-in dress shirt on the other, no ties.
They'd gone fishing that morning.
It was 2007.
Both sides wanted to ease tension over plans for new missile defense systems in Europe.
So, Vladimir Putin visited George W. Bush at his family's compound in Maine.
Not expecting much of a breakthrough, the White House called it an informal meeting.
Others dubbed it the lobster summit.
And now, Putin's been back on US soil for the first time in a decade.
It's for another summit, and once again, the White House is managing expectations.
But the stakes are much higher than they were at that lobster summit.
Since Trump and Putin last met,
Russia's dictator has launched a war that's killed tens of thousands of Ukrainians
and resulted in twice as many Russian casualties as America took in Vietnam.
I'm John Prado, and this is Checks and Balance from The Economist.
Each week, we take one big theme shaping American politics and explore it in depth.
Today, we're looking at the scratchy relationship between America and Russia.
Why has this mid-sized economy with a declining population played such a big role in American politics over the past decade?
Trump wants the war in Ukraine to end, but Putin doesn't accept on his terms.