Putin, Trump Talks Loom Over WWI Commemorative Event

Sixty world leaders will get together, in France, to commemorate the centennial anniversary of World War I (WWI), with the prospect of a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to steal the limelight.

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Conflicting versions of the expected outcome of a possible meeting between the two leaders has been disseminated by the Trump Administration. On one hand, Trump has announced he will not hold a one-on-one summit with Putin: “Well, as I understand it, we’re having ... a lunch for numerous countries. I’ll be there. I believe President Putin is going to be there. We don’t have anything scheduled.”

On the other hand, National Security Advisor John Bolton announced that a meeting would take place, according to a report from Roll Call.

In the United States, Democrats are on alert regarding any meeting between Trump and Putin taking during the U.S. president's trip to France, especially in the context of the investigation on Russia allegedly meddling with the U.S. presidential election and accusations of links between the Trump Administration and the Kremlin.

“We’ll clearly look into [Russian interference] but we’ll also have to talk to the [Department of Justice] people to make sure we don’t step on anything they’re doing,” Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler, said.

President Trump inaugurated the trip by lashing out at French President Emmanuel Macron for the latter's willingness to expand European defense. “We won't protect Europeans if we don’t decide to have a real European army,” Macron was quoted as saying.

Trump, in response, condemned the remarks alleging that any army would be put in place to defend Europe from the United States, China and Russia, according to a Reuters report. 

The U.S. president elaborated, adding that the idea of a European defense coalition is “very insulting, but perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the U.S. subsidizes greatly.”

In historical context, on the eve of World War I, Europe was split into different warring camps.

On the side of the Triple Entente were Britain, France and Russia, and on the Triple Alliance group there were Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. 

The assassination of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in 1914, triggered the war, one of the deadliest in the history of the world. The war, which caused the death of more than 11 million soldiers and 7 million civilians, officially ended in 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.