KORVA COLEMAN, HOST:
What did President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk about in their private two-hour summit last week? We still don't know, and no firm details have been revealed, a departure from diplomatic custom. Russia has rushed to fill that void with words like magnificent and super. Angela Stent of Georgetown University is a Russia expert and a State Department veteran from the Clinton and Bush administrations. Good morning, Ms. Stent.
ANGELA STENT: Good morning.
COLEMAN: We don't know exactly what happened at the summit in Helsinki. What have you been able to glean?
STENT: Well, most of what we know is from the Russians, as you said. They really control this narrative. So they've come out with different issues. They've said that Syria was discussed, that Ukraine was discussed, arms control was discussed. They've talked about a proposal they put forward for a referendum in eastern Ukraine, which, fortunately, our government has dismissed as not happening. At one point, they were asking for the United States to return to Russia for questioning our former ambassador there, Michael McFaul, and some other people whom they wanted to question in return for Robert Mueller going over to Russia and questioning or being in the room when the 12 indicted - military intelligence officers indicted for meddling and hacking are interrogated. So we've just had a variety of different proposals, but we really know very, very little about what's happening. And hopefully, some light will be shed on this when Secretary of State Pompeo testifies to Congress because this really is an unprecedented situation.
COLEMAN: Will...
STENT: Plus, we read in the newspapers that our own government officials don't really know what happened.
COLEMAN: So Secretary Pompeo will speak to Congress later this week. What questions should lawmakers ask him?
STENT: Well, I think the lawmakers have to ask him what went on in that 90-minute discussion where only the interpreters were present. Did President Trump make any promises? Were there issues discussed that the Russians haven't revealed yet? And I think we - you know, we need to have a concrete understanding of what happened. And somehow, the United States has to take back control of this narrative. We have to be much more proactive. We have - and we have to ask Secretary Pompeo, what is it that we would like to get from the Russians? What it is - what is it that the United States is seeking? Clearly, for Putin, this was a win. He met with a U.S. president. He was treated as an equal. And this is four years after being isolated - or the U.S. and its allies trying to isolate Russia for what they've done in Ukraine, what they've done in Syria and other places. So I think we really need as much detail as we can have from what happened.
COLEMAN: Usually, somebody offers a debriefing after such a meeting - somebody from the National Security Council. Could we hear more from National Security Adviser John Bolton?
STENT: I mean, we could if someone empowers him to do it because, apparently, they haven't had such a briefing. Ambassadors - U.S. ambassadors in other parts of the world like Europe are in the dark. They don't know what happened. And clearly, issues must have been raised there that concern what's happening in Europe. So, yes, that would be a good starting point, and it would be more in line with what's traditionally happened after summits.
COLEMAN: When President Putin reported the meeting was successful, what does that mean for him?
STENT: Oh, I think, for him, it means, again, that he met with a U.S. president, that he was treated as an equal. I mean, President Trump stood there and said the reason why U.S.-Russian relations are so bad is, both sides are to blame. Well, the Russians have been saying for a long time the U.S. is to blame for it, so that went halfway there. And the fact that, on a number of issues - for instance, the Russian meddling in the 2016 election - the president, Trump, standing next to President Putin, said, well, I believe President Putin when he gives me a strong denial - that, I would say, is also pretty much a win for the Russians.
COLEMAN: Angela Stent is the director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies and a professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University. Ms. Stent, thank you very much.
STENT: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.