“If there is a press conference, I would look at their body language,” Liik said. “It’s important to read between the lines—what they say at the press conference, and how to interpret it.”

Perhaps they would say something about Syria, Liik offered. But great expectations weren’t justified.

“There are no expectations towards the meeting in Moscow. They’re deliberately keeping a low profile,” she added.

Liik also remarked that Putin seems to think of Trump as an old-fashioned, straightforward leader. “Putin hasn’t done well with contemporary heads of state. I don’t think he and Obama understood each other,” she added.