As US President Donald Trump sat down for a one-on-one meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Helsinki, former US Ambassador Thomas Pickering ’53 sat down with NPR Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep to lend his insight into what each side is hoping to gain from the encounter.

Pickering’s five-decade-long diplomatic career included a spell as ambassador to Moscow during the Clinton administration. He told Inskeep that the relatively poor state of relations between Trump and his NATO allies means the US leader headed into the summit from a weakened position.

Listen to Thomas Pickering on NPR.