The relationship shared by former US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is one that has raised eyebrows across the world. Trump has been known to be relatively lenient towards Russia throughout his time in office, introducing a change to American foreign policy that has rarely been seen before. 

From congratulating Trump on winning the elections and taking the office in 2017 to agreeing on bilaterally limiting capabilities of nuclear arsenals, the two have experienced it all.

As his successor Joe Biden prepares to meet his Russian counterpart, here is a brief look at the relationship between Trump and Putin.

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Soon after taking office, Putin spoke to Trump about a possible extension of the START treaty, which would put a cap on both country’s deployment of nuclear warheads. A subsequent review of the treaty was required after Joe Biden took over the office earlier this year.

In March 2018, Trump returned the favour and contacted Putin to congratulated him and floated the idea of Putin visiting the White House, which would have been the first time he would set foot on American soil after 2005, reported Washington Post.

A few months later in July, the two world leaders materialised a substantial meeting in Finland’s Helsinki and completed the US-Russia summit. Putin and Trump also shared a stage for the time the first time and conducted a joint briefing, where Trump denied any involvement of Russia in the US elections. They spoke for nearly two hours.

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In June 2019, the two met again in Japan’s Osaka for the G20 summit. When asked by reporters if he would warn the Russian leader about interfering in the US elections, Trump lifted his finger and joking told Putin, “Don’t meddle in the election”.

“I like Putin, he likes me,” Trump insisted last year, telling the journalist Bob Woodward the “tougher and meaner” strongmen leaders were, “the better I get along with them”, reported AFP.

Trump said after a 2018 summit that he was more inclined to believe Putin than the FBI over Russian interference in the 2016 US election.

In a statement released after the 2018 summit, where Putin and Trump met, the former US President said that he would rather believe Putin than the FBI over the alleged Russian interference in US elections.

He said, “President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it would be”, reported AFP.