MOSCOW, June 13. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump and leaders of other states will be welcome guests at the FIFA World Cup in Russia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would be glad to see all guests here in Moscow and certainly this concerns the guests from the United States at the highest level," Peskov said, speaking on whether Trump could be invited to Moscow as a guest at the World Cup.
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Speaking on Trump’s possible visit for the World Cup, Peskov said "for this there is even no need for North America to win."
Peskov said the list of foreign guests "who will share with us the joy of the World Cup" is being updated.
Among the foreign leaders who are expected to come to Russia for the World Cup are Abkhaz President Raul Khajimba, Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri, Moldovan President Igor Dodon, Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela, Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Tajik President Emomalii Rahmon, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off on Thursday with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow between hosts Russia and the national team from Saudi Arabia.
Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.
The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 above-mentioned cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital. The US team is not among the participants.