President Trump says, via tweet, he is not going to meet with Russia president Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 in Argentina as planned, citing Russia's failure to return to Ukraine ships and sailors attacked and captured on Sunday.
The sudden decision comes immediately following news his longtime attorney Michael Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about his work with the president pursuing Trump Tower Moscow.
Trump had been noticeably reluctant to chastise Russia for its latest act of aggression, raising suspicion as to the timing of the president's sudden change of heart.
Just a short time before sending the tweets, as he left the White House, Trump told reporters his planned meeting with Putin at the G-20 was still on and that it would “probably” be happening.
But he also said he would be getting a finalized report during his flight about Russia’s recent seizure of Ukrainian vessels.
“I probably will be meeting with President Putin," Trump said as he headed to his helicopter." We haven't terminated that meeting. I was thinking about it, but they'd like to have it,” Trump said. “I think it’s a very good time to have the meeting. I'm getting a full report on the plane as to what happened with respect to that and that will determine what I am going to be doing.”
The Kremlin says it has yet to receive formal notification of cancellation from the White House.