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President says Slovenia ready to host meeting between Putin, Trump

Slovenian President Borut Pahor considers such a meeting to be "very important and necessary"

Slovenian President Borut Pahor AP Photo/Ronald Zak

Slovenian President Borut Pahor

© AP Photo/Ronald Zak

LJUBLJANA, February 8. /TASS/. Slovenia’s authorities would be glad to provide a platform for the first meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump, Slovenian President Borut Pahor told TASS ahead of his visit to Moscow.

"The choice of place for a possible summit depends on the decisions that Washington and Moscow will make," the Slovenian leader noted. "However, if the two presidents decide to meet in Slovenia, we will be only too happy about that."

Pahor went on to say that he considered such a meeting to be "very important and necessary." "The US has come to understand the need to review its relations with Russia which will allow to build a more effective and open political dialogue. I hope that it will not be just a conversation between the leaders of the two great powers, but it will also send a signal to the world that positive changes are to come," he stressed.

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Kremlin spokesman says meeting between Putin, Trump needs to be carefully arranged

Pahor pointed out that in 2001, Slovenia had hosted a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the then US President George W. Bush.

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar and Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec had earlier welcomed the idea of hosting a meeting between Putin and Trump.

The Slovenian president will arrive on an official visit to Moscow on February 10, accompanied by a delegation particularly comprising 40 representatives of the country’s business circles and companies. As many as 11 bilateral contracts in agriculture, telecommunications, technology exchange and the energy industry, totaling more than one billion euros, are planned to be signed.

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Vladimir Putin Slovenia Donald Trump

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