Putin and Trump to meet briefly in Paris

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump will hold a brief meeting in Paris on Sunday as they gear up for a full summit, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

Earlier, Russian newspaper Kommersant Daily reported that full-fledged talks between the two leaders in Paris had been canceled at the suggestion of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Peskov declined to comment on the report, saying the two leaders, who plan to attend events in Paris to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War I, would discuss a possible bilateral meeting at a later date.

“Indeed, there will be many heads of state and government in Paris, there will be a busy agenda from the point of view of ceremonial and protocol events,” Peskov said.

After their Paris meeting, Putin and Trump are highly likely to meet during the G20 summit in Argentina’s capital of Buenos Aires, the Kremlin spokesman said.

“For sure they (the two presidents) will be together at the G20 meeting in Argentina, that’s why it’s highly likely that they will speak (in Paris) about this opportunity,” Peskov said.

In Washington, US officials confirmed that Trump was likely to have a brief meeting with Putin, but that a proper bilateral meeting would be held at the G20 summit at the end of the month.

Trump said on Monday that he was not certain to meet with Putin in Paris. “I’m not sure we’ll have a meeting. Probably not,” he said.

Bogdan Bezpalko, member of the Council on Interethnic Relations under the President of Russia, said Trump made the statement out of consideration for the midterm elections in the US. Dmitry Peskov,

Russian presidential spokesman

Putin and Trump have not met face-to-face since a bilateral meeting in July in Helsinki that stirred concerns in the United States that Trump was cozying up to the Kremlin, according to Reuters.

Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said last month the Paris meeting would be brief and more of “a base-touching exercise” during which the two leaders would discuss whether Putin will accept Trump’s invitation to come to Washington.

NAVESH CHITRAKAR / REUTERS A soldier kisses a puppy after offering prayers during the dog festival as part of Tihar in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Tuesday. Tihar is also known as Diwali.