MOSCOW: Donald Trump wishes to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin when the two visit Paris on Nov. 11 for World War I commemorations, the US president’s National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Tuesday.
“I think President Trump will look forward to seeing you in Paris on the sidelines of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Armistice,” Bolton told Putin in televised remarks as the two met for talks in Moscow.
Putin said: “It would be useful to continue a direct dialogue with the president of the United States... for example in Paris, if the American side is interested.”
Both leaders will be in Paris for the Nov. 11 World War I commemorations, which 60 heads of state and government are expected to attend.
Trump and Putin held their first bilateral summit in Helsinki in July, after which the US president came under strong criticism at home for adopting a very conciliatory tone with his Russian counterpart.
Bolton met Monday with several senior Russian officials before his talks with Putin. His visit comes after Trump announced that the United States would pull out of the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) signed by president Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader.
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Trump wants to meet Putin in Paris on Nov. 11: Bolton
Trump wants to meet Putin in Paris on Nov. 11: Bolton
- Both leaders will be in Paris for the Nov. 11 World War I commemorations, which 60 heads of state and government are expected to attend
Suspected Russia shadow tanker anchored off French coast
MARTIGUES: An oil tanker seized by France in the Mediterranean and suspected of being part of Russia’s sanction-busting “shadow fleet” lay anchored Sunday near a southern French port and guarded by the French navy.
The Grinch was intercepted Thursday morning in international waters between Spain and North Africa.
The French navy escorted it to the Gulf of Fos in southern France, the regional maritime prefecture said in a statement on Saturday.
The vessel will be kept at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor as part of a preliminary investigation for failure to fly a flag, it added. The captain and crew will also be questioned, according to a source close to the case.
The tanker was at anchor about 500 meters off the town of Martigues, an AFP photographer observed on Sunday morning. A French navy ship and two gendarmerie patrol boats were stationed nearby.
The prefecture said nautical and air exclusion zones had been established around the anchorage site.
Some 598 vessels suspected of belonging to the shadow fleet are under European Union sanctions.
Authorities said the 249 meter long Grinch appears under that name on a UK sanctions list of Russian shadow fleet vessels, but as Carl on lists compiled by the EU and the United States.
The operation is the second of its kind in recent months.
France in late September detained a Russian-linked ship called the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned as “piracy.”
The Boracay’s Chinese captain is to stand trial in France in February.
The Grinch was intercepted Thursday morning in international waters between Spain and North Africa.
The French navy escorted it to the Gulf of Fos in southern France, the regional maritime prefecture said in a statement on Saturday.
The vessel will be kept at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor as part of a preliminary investigation for failure to fly a flag, it added. The captain and crew will also be questioned, according to a source close to the case.
The tanker was at anchor about 500 meters off the town of Martigues, an AFP photographer observed on Sunday morning. A French navy ship and two gendarmerie patrol boats were stationed nearby.
The prefecture said nautical and air exclusion zones had been established around the anchorage site.
Some 598 vessels suspected of belonging to the shadow fleet are under European Union sanctions.
Authorities said the 249 meter long Grinch appears under that name on a UK sanctions list of Russian shadow fleet vessels, but as Carl on lists compiled by the EU and the United States.
The operation is the second of its kind in recent months.
France in late September detained a Russian-linked ship called the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned as “piracy.”
The Boracay’s Chinese captain is to stand trial in France in February.
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