Wait Just a Second, What Deal did Trump Make with Putin on North Korea?

During President Trump’s remarks during his news conference with President Putin on Monday, Trump said Russia was going to work with the United States on North Korea.

President Trump giving remarks during the Trump/Putin Summit in Helsinki, 16 July, 2018

On Monday, Presidents Trump and Putin held a summit in Helsinki, Finland. No one’s really sure why they held the summit, although it appears that it might have just been to ensure that diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia continued to happen. Putin and Trump met alone behind closed doors for several hours, had a working lunch with their advisors, and then held a 30 minute long news conference.

The majority of questions from the western media focused on the issue of Russian interference in the 2016 election. At least some of the Russian media questions appeared staged; for instance, a reporter from Russia Today asked a question relating international relations to a game of soccer, after which Putin conveniently produced a soccer ball to give to Trump.

With all the questions over what was going on with the election interference and Syria, it was easy to overlook a statement by Trump regarding a possible deal with Putin on North Korea.

“I provided an update on my meeting last month with Chairman Kim on the denuclearization of North Korea,” Trump said. “And after today, I am very sure that President Putin and Russia want very much to end that problem, [he is] going to work with us. And I appreciate that commitment.”

“And I appreciate that commitment”

While the North Korea issue didn’t come up again during the news conference, it came up again before a follow-up interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. “His peace through strength strategy is working,” Hannity said. “…There hasn’t been a single rocket fired in months.”

Trump is concerned about nuclear proliferation. During the Hannity interview Trump said, “The most important issue is the nuclear issue.” And again, Trump mentioned that he discussed North Korea with Putin, “He also said he wants to be very helpful with North Korea.” The Russians are already promoting that possible cooperation; for instance, Sputnik News ran a piece about it.

At this time, aside from the two presidents, no one knows what sort of commitment Putin gave Trump or what Trump gave Putin. But we do know that North Korea appears to be part of Russia’s active measures. Assuming that Trump isn’t a Russian asset and is just the target of a Russian influence campaign, then whatever’s going on is probably worth paying attention to. While whatever commitment Putin made to working with Trump on North Korea could be as hollow as the commitment made by Kim Jong Un, Russia is using this to influence US policy.