Trump ‘open’ to Putin’s invitation
The Russian leader says he’s ready to meet in either capital if conditions are right.
The White House says a visit to Moscow is being considered. A proposed meeting in the U.S. has been put off until next year, after the midterm election.
WASHINGTON — The White House said President Trump is “open to visiting Moscow” as Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Friday, and renewed the president’s proposal for Putin to come to Washington in 2019.
On Wednesday, the White House announced it was postponing until next year the invitation that Trump extended last week for Putin to visit Washington this fall to continue the talks they began in Helsinki, Finland, this month. That invitation stunned his closest advisors, and the delay came after Congress’ Republican leaders expressed concerns that a Putin visit would generate controversy ahead of the November midterm election.
“President Trump looks forward to having President Putin to Washington after the first of the year, and he is open to visiting Moscow upon receiving a formal invitation,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.
The White House was responding to reports of Putin’s comments Friday that he’s ready to invite Trump to Moscow and ready to visit Washington if conditions are right. Speaking to reporters during a visit to South Africa, Putin said he shared Trump’s desire for more face-to-face meetings.
“I am ready for that. We need for the appropriate conditions to exist, to be created, including in our countries,” Putin said at a news conference. “We are ready for such meetings. We are ready to invite President Trump to Moscow. By all means. By the way, he has such an invitation; I told him about that.”
Since returning from Helsinki 11 days ago, Trump has sought to quiet the political uproar sparked by his postsummit news conference, at which he accepted Putin’s denial of 2016 election interference over U.S. intelligence officials’ conclusion that Russia did interfere in the election on Trump’s behalf. Putin, standing beside the president, acknowledged that he wanted Trump to beat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
But even as the president walked back his remarks in the face of intense political pressure and a dip in his poll numbers, he has repeatedly contradicted his expressions of support for the U.S. intelligence findings, condemning the Russia investigation as a witch hunt and the interference allegations as a hoax. At the same time, he has made clear his desire for future talks with Putin and improved relations with Russia.
Because Trump and Putin met for over two hours in Helsinki without any aides and only translators in the room, the details of their talk remain largely opaque. Moscow has provided more information, some of which the Trump administration has disputed.
The White House did not say Friday whether Putin invited Trump to Moscow during their meeting, as the Russian president seemed to suggest.
“I am ready to go to Washington,” Putin said. “I repeat once again, if the right conditions for work are created.”