Bolton sees having Putin summit as ‘a deliverable’

MOSCOW — A summit that brings together Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will be a success in itself regardless of the results, Trump’s national security adviser said Wednesday while in Moscow to lay the groundwork for the meeting.

National Security Adviser John Bolton spoke at a news conference after Putin’s foreign policy aide said the Kremlin and the White House would jointly announce today the date and venue for a summer U.S.-Russia summit.

Trump and Putin will meet in a third country, Bolton said without elaborating.

“I think the fact of the summit itself is a deliverable,” Bolton said after talks with Putin and other Russian officials. “There are a lot of issues to talk about that have accumulated, and I think this was one of the reasons why President Trump believed so strongly that it was time to have this kind of meeting. And as you can see, President Putin agreed.”

The summit would offer Putin a chance to try to persuade Washington to lift some of the sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Crimea, interference in eastern Ukraine’s separatist fighting and alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The Russian leader had two brief meetings with Trump on the sidelines of international summits last year. He and Trump discussed their mutual desire for a fullfledged summit during a March telephone call, but planning was delayed amid the investigations of alleged collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

Trump consistently has called for improving relations with Russia, prompting criticism that he is willing to overlook Russian abuses. However, an array of new Russian sanctions has been imposed under his presidency.

Greeting Bolton in the Kremlin, Putin noted that U.S.-Russian relations are at a low point and offered his opinion that the poor state of bilateral affairs mostly was a function of American political infighting.

Putin said he hoped Bolton’s visit would be the start of a step up. He added that Russia never wanted a confrontation with the United States and offered to discuss what could be done to “restore fullfledged relations based on equality and mutual respect.”

Bolton replied that he was looking forward to discussing “how to improve Russia-U.S. relations and find areas where we can agree and make progress together.”