ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Just two days after the White House postponed plans to have President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia visit Washington in the fall, the Russian leader said on Friday [7-27-18] that he had invited President Trump to visit him in Moscow. Praising Mr. Trump as a leader ‘who seeks to keep his promises,’ Mr. Putin continued to push for a second summit meeting, though their first, this month, generated intense criticism of his American counterpart. Mr. Putin said he was ready to meet either in Washington or Moscow, adding that he had already told Mr. Trump that he had an invitation to visit the Russian capital…Unlike President Trump, who came under heavy fire from critics at home for what many viewed as his fawning behavior in Helsinki, Mr. Putin has won only praise in Russia for the meeting, which the foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, described as ‘better than super.’ The White House said last week that Mr. Trump would invite Mr. Putin to visit Washington in the fall — news that surprised even some of his top advisers. But on Wednesday [7-25-18], American officials said the plan had been postponed until after the investigation of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, had concluded. Referring to the backlash against Mr. Trump in the United States over his performance in Helsinki, Mr. Putin said that political turbulence in the United States would not derail contacts between the two leaders.”
-Andrew Higgins, “Putin Invites Trump to Moscow, 2 Days After White House Postponed Summit Plans,” The New York Times online, July 27, 2018