EXCERPT:
CHANCE: "Well, I think it’s a very difficult issue for the Kremlin to handle. Of course, we saw what the dynamic was like in Helsinki. I was in that press conference with Presidents Trump and Putin. And Putin came across as much more dominant. President Trump came across as deferential, even submissive at times, which was I think very shocking to many of the people in the audience. People in Russia were also shocked as well. State television said that President Trump smelt like a Kremlin agent. That was the words that they used to describe the U.S. president. And so I think the Kremlin have kind of backed off a bit, despite this latest invitation. They’re concerned that it’s gone a little bit too far. They want President Trump to deliver on his election promises, to make the relationship better with Russia, but they also see that he’s not going to be able to do that if he continues to perform like he performed in Helsinki when standing next to President Putin. And so yes, there was this invitation extended today. President Putin speaking in South Africa at a BRICS summit said that, you know, he’s already given that invitation, in fact, to President Trump, perhaps providing us with some insight into what else was discussed in that meeting, that secret meeting or closed door meeting that they had together whilst in the Finnish capital. But he made the point that the conditions have to be right. And what he was talking about then, I think, is Putin wants the political environment in the United States to be less hostile to him if he’s going to undertake another summit, because he wants something tangible out of it, Jim."