One day after a team that is not Germany wins the World Cup, President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Helsinki for their first summit, the Kremlin and White House have confirmed. The meeting is set for July 16.
Finland has a long history of being neutral ground for the two countries, Politico notes: It was where President Gerald Ford signed the Helsinki Accords in 1975, thawing relations with the Soviet Union, and where President George H.W. Bush met with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990. The location is also close enough to Moscow that Putin can quickly arrive after the World Cup final on July 15.
Trump and Putin — who have met before, but only on the sidelines of other events — are expected to discuss national security as well as "relations between the United States and Russia," the White House said. On Thursday morning, Trump reiterated that "Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with meddling in our election!"