MOSCOW (AP) — Having Donald Trump in the White House is looking increasingly like a liability for the Kremlin, rather than an asset. But don't expect President Vladimir Putin to say that out loud.

Russia's official assessment of Trump's high-stakes summit with Putin is carefully upbeat. In his first public comment on it, Putin on Thursday declared it "successful."

That stands in sharp contrast to the rain of criticism the U.S. president has faced at home. And as the days pass and Trump's comments about Monday's summit become more and more contradictory, Moscow appears to be quietly losing hope...