Putin returned to the presidency in 2012. A year later, the White House canceled a planned summit with Putin in Moscow, citing Russia's "disappointing decision" to grant asylum to national security leaker Edward Snowden and a lack of progress in the U.S.-Russia bilateral agenda.

Following a high-stakes meeting in Alaska between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, NBC News' Peter Alexander says he is struck to see that Putin has gotten "much of what he wanted" out of the meeting.