Donald Trump Expects to Meet Vladimir Putin in July in Europe

WASHINGTON, June 16. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump is expected to hold a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Europe in July, The Washington Post said, citing "a senior administration official and two diplomats familiar with his schedule."

"President Trump is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month while he is in Europe for a NATO summit," the newspaper wrote. "In a nod to those plans, Trump told reporters on Friday that 'it's possible' he would meet with Putin this summer," The Washington Post added. NATO is expected to hold a summit in Brussels on July 11-12.

According to the newspaper, Trump's "interest in a meeting with Putin became public in March after the Kremlin disclosed that Trump extended an invitation in a phone call with the Russian leader. But US officials say Trump privately has been asking his aides for a bilateral meeting ever since he met with Putin in Vietnam in November on the sidelines of a multilateral economic summit." "After that meeting, the president said he wanted to invite Putin to the White House," a US official said as cited by The Washington Post. "We ignored it," the official added.

The newspaper also said that "at the time, top aides in the National Security Council opposed the idea of a meeting and said they didn't view Trump's interest in a summit as an order to set one up." "They decided: Let's wait and see if he raises it again," said the official.

 Resistance from aides

"The push for engagement with the Kremlin follows months of prodding by Trump, who has faced resistance from senior political aides and diplomats questioning the value of meeting with Putin and worry that the tete-a-tete could cast a shadow over the NATO summit in Brussels," The Washington...