Trump says likely to meet Putin during Europe trip in July

6/28/2018 - 5:32:47 PM

US President Donald Trump said on June 27 that he will probably meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during his scheduled trip to Europe in July.

This graphic image shows US President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We'll probably be meeting sometime around my trip to Europe," Trump told reporters at the White House during his meeting with visiting Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on June 27 afternoon.

Trump also revealed that his talks with Putin will focus on Syria and Ukraine.

It has been reported that Helsinki of Finland, and Vienna of Austria, are seen as the most likely venues for the Trump-Putin summit.

Kremlin said earlier on June 27 that Putin and Trump are expected to hold a meeting in a third country, with the date and venue to be officially announced on June 28.

The remarks came after Putin's closed-door meeting with visiting US National Security Advisor John Bolton in Moscow.

Trump is set to attend the July 11-12 NATO summit in Brussels and then pay a visit to Britain.

Trump last met with Putin in November in Vietnam on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit.

The expected Trump-Putin meeting comes amid strained bilateral relations due to Russia's alleged meddling with the 2016 US presidential elections, among other thorny issues.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on June 27 that US President Donald Trump believes that Russia should be part of discussions affecting global foreign policy issues.

Pompeo told a Senate committee that Trump would emphasize during any meeting with Putin that Russian meddling in US elections was unacceptable.

Asked whether Russia should be part of the G7 group of most industrialized nations, Pompeo said Trump should speak for himself, adding, "The president deeply believes that having Russia be part of these important geostrategic conversations is inevitable, and there's a long history of that."

Source: NDO

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