Mass protests greeted President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as they met for a summit Monday in Helsinki. As the two leaders drove from the airport to their summit, they were met by 300 billboards in English and Russian that were posted by the country’s leading newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, and drew attention to their strained relations with the media. Greenpeace activists unfolded two large banners from the bell tower of Kallio Church in Helsinki that called on the presidents to “Warm Our Hearts, Not Our Planet.” Meanwhile in Helsinki on Sunday, thousands took to the streets to demand human rights, equality and a focus on the climate. We speak with Heidi Hautala, a Finnish politician and member of the European Parliament from Finland, who addressed the protests on Sunday. She is also a member of the Green League, part of the European Green Party.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Helsinki, where President Trump is holding a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, beginning with a one-on-one, 90-minute meeting. Only their translators are attending the meeting with Trump and Putin. Putin kept Trump waiting for the summit by landing in Finland about an hour late. Trump faces pressure to confront Putin over Kremlin meddling in the 2016 election, after a grand jury Friday indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for their alleged role in hacking email accounts controlled by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. We’ll talk more about the US relations with Russia later in the broadcast, when we host a debate between Glenn Greenwald as well as our guest who is head of the Ploughshares Fund, Joe Cirincione. But first we look at the protests that have greeted both Putin and Trump in Finland.
As the two leaders drove from the airport to their summit separately, they were met by 300 billboards, in English and Russian, that were posted by the country’s leading newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, and drew…