Despite Trump’s threat, Russia still expects meeting
WASHINGTON — The Kremlin said Wednesday it still expects a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and President Trump to go ahead as planned despite a suggestion from Trump that it could be canceled.
Trump, in an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday, said he might cancel the sit-down with Putin in Argentina following Russia’s seizure of three Ukrainian naval ships last weekend.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that the meeting is on and that Russia has not received “any other information from our U.S. counterparts.”
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, noted that the meeting, which is set for Saturday, has been prepared through official channels and Moscow expects Washington to notify it of any changes in the same way.
“This meeting is necessary for both sides,” Ushakov said. “It’s important in view of the developing situation in the world.”
The long-simmering conflict between Russia and Ukraine burst into the open on Sunday, when Russian coast guard forces fired on three Ukrainian vessels and seized the ships and the crew.
In a phone call Wednesday, Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed their concern about the incident, said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She said the two will further discuss it later this week during the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires.
Trump said he would be receiving a “full report” from his national security team on Russia’s recent actions in eastern Ukraine and the Black Sea. He said he would decide on a course afterward.
“Maybe I won’t have the meeting,” he said. “Maybe I won’t even have the meeting.”
The comments were Trump’s strongest to date in condemnation of Russia’s recent actions in Ukraine, where tensions are flaring. But White House aides were still planning for the Putin meeting after Trump’s comments.
Ushakov said the naval encounter between Russia and Ukraine likely will be on the agenda of the planned meeting, which will start with the two presidents meeting privately before being joined by senior officials.
He said the two presidents also are expected to discuss nuclear arms control and regional crises, including the situation in Syria, the Iranian nuclear deal and North Korea.