Putin-Trump meeting necessary – Kremlin
A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump is necessary but has to be well prepared, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday.
His comments came after the two leaders held their sixth phone call the day before. According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, during their nearly one-hour long conversation, Trump and Putin discussed a wide range of issues, including the Ukraine conflict, the situation in the Middle East, and Russia-US cooperation.
Asked to comment on plans to hold an in-person summit of the two presidents, Peskov stated that both sides acknowledge that such a meeting is “necessary” and that there is readiness on both sides to make it happen.
Peskov recalled, however, that both leaders have repeatedly stressed that such a meeting would require extensive preparations.
The Kremlin had previously stated on multiple occasions that the timing of a Putin-Trump summit depends on Washington’s own initiative and has insisted that such a meeting would have to be “result-oriented.”
Trump described Thursday’s phone call as “pretty long,” and stated that the two leaders talked about “a lot of things, including Iran.” However, the US president expressed frustration that he “didn’t make any progress” with Putin over the Ukraine conflict and the establishment of a ceasefire.
The Kremlin has since confirmed that the US president urged Putin to cease hostilities as soon as possible, while the latter reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to negotiate.
According to Ushakov, Putin stressed that Russia intends to achieve the primary goals of its military operation, which is “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs.” Russia “will not back down from these goals,” the presidential aide said.
