When relaying this at the joint press conference later on, the Russian president commented about his own earlier remarks: “I think that is very neighborly.”

And yesterday Putin was careful to stress that this was a point of agreement between the two sides. He talked about the unresponsiveness of the Biden administration to the warnings he claims to have given them. Still, Trump was careful not to fall for the flattery.

Throughout the joint press appearance, while Putin was speaking, Trump maintained his careful, thoughtful listening face.He knows that even a smile in the wrong place can be deadly when dealing with a negotiating partner like Putin.

Not just because of the man standing beside him on the stage, but for the world’s media camped out in front of them both, many of whom would love to revive the “Putin puppet” memes about Trump that ran so wild from 2016 to 2020.

Because there were still a number of small things and “one which is the most significant” that the two sides had not agreed on.