MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. The Kremlin regrets the lack of preparations for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. At the same time, he noted that if there was an opportunity to meet with the US leader during the G20 summit in Hamburg, the Russian president would take advantage of it.
"As for a full-on meeting, no preparations have been made yet, unfortunately," the Kremlin spokesman added.
Peskov went on to say that "one way or another, Putin and Trump will attend the same event in Hamburg." "So they will have a chance to communicate," he added. The Russian presidential spokesman pointed out that as a rule, world leaders participated in multilateral international events in order to "discuss multilateral agenda and hold a number of bilateral meetings." "I am confident that President Putin will do the same," Peskov said. At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman dismissed the suggestion that Washington was afraid of the US president’s meeting with the Russian leader because Trump and Putin were in different political weight classes. "I don’t think that this suggestion is correct," Peskov stressed. "Indeed, President Putin enjoys an overwhelming support of the Russian citizens and is one of the most renowned and influential politicians on the global arena. No one would argue with that," the Russian presidential spokesman said.