What Trump And Putin Hope To Get Out Of Their Big Helsinki Summit On Monday

AP President Donald Trump will head into his first summit with Vladimir Putin without a clear agenda and little preparation. Lawmakers have called on Trump to cancel the summit after 12 Russians were indicted in the investigation of Russian meddling in American elections, a process Trump has called a "witch hunt." Putin looks to warm relations with the US and seek economic opportunities, but talk of Russia's annexation of Crimea from the Ukraine is off the table. HELSINKI (AP) — The outcome of the first summit between the unpredictable first-term American president and Russia's steely-eyed longtime leader is anybody's guess. With no set agenda, the summit could veer between spectacle and substance. As Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin head into Monday's meeting in Helsinki, here's a look at what each president may be hoping to achieve.What Trump wants Getty What Trump wants from Russia has long been one of the great mysteries of his presidency. The president will go into the summit followed by whispers about his ties to Moscow, questions that have grown only more urgent since the Justice Department last week indicted 12 Russian military intelligence officers accused of interfering in the 2016 election in an effort to help Trump. And while most summits featuring an American president are carefully scripted affairs designed to produce a tangible result, Trump will go face-to-face with Putin having done scant preparation, possessing no clear agenda and saddled with a track record that, despite his protests, suggests he may not sharply challenge his Russian counterpart over election meddling. "I think we go into that meeting not looking for so much," Trump told reporters last week. Trump has strenuously insisted that improved relations with Russia would benefit the United States.