Putin-Trump meeting in Osaka likely on the eve of G20: Kremlin

Yuzhhno-Sakhalinsk: A full-fledged meeting between the Russian and US Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, in the framework of the G20 summit in Japan’s Osaka may be fixed by the leaders’ teams even on the eve of this event, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

Speaking in an interview with the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” on the Rossiya-1 TV channel, Peskov noted that if the two presidents meet “on the go” they won’t manage to discuss the whole range of issues on the bilateral agenda.

“This [the meeting’s organization] may happen even on the eve of the G20’s beginning,” Peskov said.

In comment on Trump’s earlier statement on his readiness to meet with the Chinese and Russian sides and other countries at the G20 summit, Peskov said the US leader probably meant brief meetings. “They won’t manage [to discuss] the amount of issues, which they need to discuss and what is indeed on the agenda,” he noted.

Putin and Trump were expected to meet on the sidelines of the previous Group of Twenty summit, in Argentina last December, but the US president cancelled it literally a day before the agreed date. Following this move, the Russian side said it was ready for dialogue with the United States but on conditions that such a contact was initiated by Washington.

Earlier this week, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists that the idea of a possible Putin-Trump meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty summit was up in the air, as “after outlining this idea, the US side has not yet specified it.”

At a meeting with President Putin in Sochi on May 14, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo spoke about potential readiness to organize such a meeting. However, no official US request has been ever issued.

The Group of Twenty summit will be held in Osaka, Japan, on June 27-28.