MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump will hold a brief meeting in Paris on November 11 to discuss the date of their full-fledged summit, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"The parties have agreed that it will be difficult to arrange a full-fledged meeting [between Putin and Trump] there [in Paris]," he noted. "However, they will meet 'on the go' one way or another and agree when they can meet next time to have a substantial conversation."
The Kremlin spokesman declined to comment on a report by the Kommersant daily, which said that full-fledged talks between the two leaders in Paris had been cancelled at the suggestion of French President Emmanuel Macron. According to the daily, the French leader did that because he did not want this summit to overshadow the celebrations to mark the end of WWI. The Russian and US presidents will travel to Paris to attend the festive events.
"Indeed, there will be many heads of state and government in Paris, there will be a busy agenda from the point of view of ceremonial and protocol events," Peskov said.
After their Paris meeting, Putin and Trump are highly likely to meet during the G20 summit in Argentina’s capital of Buenos Aires, he said.
"For sure they [the Russian and US leaders] will be together at the G20 meeting in Argentina, that’s why it’s highly likely that they will speak [in Paris] about this opportunity," Peskov told reporters.
On November 5, Peskov told TASS that in Paris the two leaders would hold a brief meeting instead of full-fledged talks. He said this format was explained by a busy program of international events in Paris. According to Peskov, the Russian and US presidents would agree on the date of holding a substantive meeting.
Putin and Trump held their first full-fledged negotiations in Helsinki on July 16. The G20 summit in Argentina is due to be held on November 30-December 1.