Amidst contradictory leaks and rumours coming from the US administration, no one is quite sure what to expect when Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska on Friday – not even the Russian press. Nonetheless, they seem rather less convinced that Trump is about to stitch up the Ukrainians than the Western media.

On every side there are cautions not to expect miracles

Of course, there is satisfaction at the prospect of Putin’s first visit to the US since 2015. Facing a campaign intended to try and isolate Russia, Putin had just sent troops into Syria to reverse what seemed then the imminent collapse of the Assad regime, and with US assets also deployed in the area, then-president Barack Obama had had no choice but to meet his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Ass

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