MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/. The signing of an agreement between Moscow and Washington would be the best outcome of a meeting of Presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Budapest, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, now head of the G.O.R.K.I. Center at St. Petersburg State University, told TASS in an interview.
"In any case, bilateral relations will also be on the agenda. I think the ideal outcome for the Russian side would be the signing of a bilateral trade agreement and a comprehensive resumption of bilateral contacts, as has already been discussed in telephone conversations and meetings at all levels. This includes everything from the restoration of direct flights to sports and cultural contacts," she said.
She added that both sides have about "14 days to prepare the relevant documents. Perhaps there are already drafts that the parties have exchanged. 14 days is not much, but it's better than five, as it used to be."
On October 16, Putin and Trump had their eighth telephone talk since the beginning of the year. After the conversation, which lasted 2.5 hours, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said that Moscow and Washington would immediately begin preparing a new meeting of the leaders, which could take place in Budapest. According to him, the Hungarian capital was proposed by the American leader, and the Russian president supported the idea. Later, Trump said that the meeting could take place within two weeks. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban ordered the creation of an organizing committee to prepare for the summit, specifying that this work "began on Thursday evening.".