For Mr Putin the summit in Alaska is a victory in itself, a sign of Russia’s great-power status. He believes that the conflict in Ukraine is really a proxy war started by the West and has craved a meeting at which America and Russia divide their spheres of influence,

Trump’s ongoing global trade war is also alarming for Russia. On Aug. 7, Trump slapped punitive new tariffs on 90 countries that failed to make deals before his deadline. Trump has shown himself willing to use American power to bully trade partners who cannot effectively retaliate — such as Brazil, Canada, Switzerland and now India.