UPDATE: Reuters:
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet on July 16 in Helsinki, the Kremlin and the White House said on Thursday, a first official summit that will be closely watched by nervous U.S. allies in Europe and critics of Russia in America.
Putin-Trump summit to take place in Helsinki on July 16 (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed National Security Advisor John Bolton to the Kremlin Wednesday, and the two reportedly agreed to a date, place, and time for a meeting next month between Putin and President Trump.
The details of the much-anticipated meeting will be announced Thursday, the official, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, told reporters. The meeting is expected to take place in mid-July, when Trump will be in Europe for previously scheduled visits to Belgium and Britain. The Putin-Trump meeting will be held in a “third country,” Ushakov said.
Earlier Wednesday, Putin warmly greeted Bolton in a grand oval meeting hall at the Kremlin, flanked by statues of Russian czars set before lime-painted walls.
Putin opened the meeting by repeating to Bolton his frequent contention that U.S.-Russian relations are in a poor state in large part because of the domestic political environment in the United States.
Putin used his meeting with Bolton to blame U.S. domestic politics again for tension between the two nations, even going so far as to claim Russia has done nothing to create strife and denying U.S. election interference.
“Your visit here to Moscow inspires hope that we will be able to take first steps to restore full-fledged relations between Russia and the United States,” Putin said. “Russia never sought confrontation, and I hope that today we will be able to talk about what we can do from both sides in order to restore full-fledged relations on the foundation of equality and of respect for each other’s interests.”
Bolton in turn said he hoped Russia and the United States could find “areas where we can agree and make progress together.”
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Bolton also met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Lavrov, Ushakov, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu then joined the meeting with Putin.
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Bolton’s meeting with Putin also included talks on Iran, Syria and nuclear arms control, Ushakov said. The discussions “very briefly” touched on allegations of Russian election interference, he said.
“From our side, it was clearly stated that the Russian state did not interfere and does not interfere in domestic political processes in the United States, and most certainly did not interfere in the 2016 election,” Ushakov said.
Talks lasted about two hours, covering summit planning and arms control as well as the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine and nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea. U.S. sanctions weren’t discussed and alleged election meddling came up only briefly, with Putin reiterating his denials of any Russian role, Ushakov said after the meeting.
Putin conveyed several messages “exclusively for Trump” to Bolton during the talks Wednesday, Ushakov said, without elaborating. The summit is expected to last several hours and result in a joint statement by the leaders, he added.
The Trump-Putin summit would be the first meeting of the two presidents not taking place on the sidelines of a broader international gathering. It would garner intense scrutiny because of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into possible collusion between Moscow and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. And it could overshadow the July summit meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, raising fresh questions about Trump’s commitment to America’s traditional alliances.
The Trump-Putin meeting is expected to take place while Trump is in Europe in mid-July. He is scheduled to attend the NATO summit meeting July 11 and 12 in Brussels and to visit Britain on July 13. Peskov declined to comment on news reports that a Trump-Putin meeting could take place in Vienna or Helsinki.
White House, Kremlin agree on time and place for Trump-Putin summit (The Washington Post)
Putin, Trump to Hold Summit as Both Sides Seek Better Ties (Bloomberg Politics)