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‘No preparations’ for Putin-Trump summit underway, date ‘up in the air’ says Kremlin aide

The Russian president mentioned at the St. Petersburg forum that Russia and the US certainly have something to discuss

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. No particular preparations for a meeting between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are underway now and the issue is "up in the air," Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov said on Monday commenting on the possible summit.

"Our president mentioned at the St. Petersburg forum that Russia and the US certainly have something to discuss, but there have been no particular preparations yet and in this context it’s still March 20 on the calendar when during a phone conversation [with Putin] Trump suggested considering the possibility of holding this meeting," Ushakov said.

Read also

Kremlin notes lack of initiative on Putin-Trump meeting issue

"Now, however, the issue on where and when [to hold the summit] is up in the air," Ushakov said.

In his interview with Austrian television and radio company ORF, Putin did not give a direct answer to the question on why his new meeting with Trump has not taken place so far. "This is what you should ask our colleagues from the United States about," he answered. "To my mind, this is the result of a domestic political fight in the US." The Russian president reiterated that the leaders met at international venues [G20 summits and APEC in 2017] and also held several telephone conversations.

On March 20, Putin and Trump held a telephone conversation and agreed to hand down instructions to start preparations for a Russia-US summit. Moreover, later news broke that Trump had not only mentioned the possibility of a meeting but also invited Putin to Washington.

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