What with Syria, hacking and the toxic relationship with Moscow, what to do about Russia was bound to come up in the presidential debate, and it's not a strength for either candidate.
Hillary Clinton has issues. In the last debate, she openly stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to influence the election to get Donald Trump elected; one of Putin's outspoken supplicants has warned that electing her means nuclear war; and she has overstated the success of her record of dealing with Russia.
But what about Trump? The Republican has said so many things about Russia, only to contradict them later.
Trump knows Putin. Or does he?
Back in May 2014, Trump said he "spoke, indirectly and directly, with President Putin."
In November 2015, Trump said he "got to know him very well because we were both on '60 Minutes.' We were stablemates, and we did very well that night."
And then in July, Trump said at a news conference in Florida: "I never met Putin. I don't know who Putin is."
The verdict: No, Trump has never met Putin. He'd like to some day, and he has expressed interest in becoming his best friend. But none of that has happened yet.
[Exploring the circumstantial ties between Donald Trump and Russian political interests]
Does Trump have business with Russia?
Trump in the second debate flatly declared: "I don't deal there. I have no businesses there." But there's all kinds of evidence, including statements from his advisers and family members, that Trump has done business with Russia.
His son, Donald Trump Jr., said in 2008 that "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets."
Alan Garten, general counsel of the Trump Organization, told our colleagues in May: "I have no doubt, as a company, I know we've looked at deals in Russia. And many of the former Russian republics."
The verdict: It's really hard to accept that Trump has never done any dealings with Russia.
Russia is hacking the U.S. campaign. Or is it?
Trump has never accepted the Clinton campaign's assertion that hackers controlled by the Kremlin are trying interfere in the 2016 elections; even after the Obama administration officially accused Russia, Trump has maintained his doubt.
But his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, contradicted Trump, saying Sunday on "Meet the Press": "I think there's more and more evidence that implicates Russia."
The verdict: The GOP ticket has yet to work that out. Russia has denied it.
Putin isn't in Ukraine. Or is he?
In July, Trump told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that Putin is "not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want."
Stephanopoulos took it here: He told Trump that Putin had already acknowledged that the Russian military seized Crimea so that Russia could annex it.
To which Trump responded: "OK – well, he's there in a certain way. But I'm not there."
The verdict: Trump later clarified that what he meant was: "Putin is there. But don't blame Donald Trump for that."
Trump knows nothing about Russia. Or maybe he knows something?
The verdict: It depends on the day.