Trump has undisclosed dinner date with Putin at G20

WASHINGTON: After his much-publicised two-plus-hour meeting early this month with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Germany, President Donald Trump chatted informally with the Russian leader for up to an additional hour later the same day.

The second meeting, undisclosed initially, allegedly took place at a dinner for G20 leaders, a senior official said. Trump left his seat to occupy a chair next to Putin. Putin was attended only by his official interpreter.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night after published reports of the conversation, the White House said: “There was no ‘second meeting’ between Trump and Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner. The insinuation the White House tried to ‘hide’ a second meeting is false, malicious and absurd.”

“All the leaders” circulated around the room throughout the dinner, and “Trump spoke with many leaders”. As the dinner was concluding, it said, Trump spoke “briefly” to Putin, who was seated next to First Lady Melania Trump.

The dinner conversation with Putin was first reported on Monday by Ian Bremmer, president of the New Yorkbased Eurasia Group, in a newsletter to group clients. Bremmer said the meeting began “halfway into” the meal and lasted “roughly an hour”.

The senior official said it began with the dessert course.

According to reporters, the motorcades of Trump and Putin were among the last to leave the event, departing within minutes of each other just before midnight. The encounter appeared to underscore the extent to which Trump was eager throughout the summit to cultivate a friendship with Putin.