MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Monday that it hoped another summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump could take place as soon as the necessary preparation had been completed.
Putin and Trump last met in August at a summit in Alaska, where they discussed a possible resolution to end the war in Ukraine.
Last month they announced plans for a summit in Budapest, but Trump canceled it soon afterwards, saying that the timing did not feel right.
Asked if Moscow had missed an opportunity, and under what conditions a new Putin-Trump meeting might happen, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “We can hardly predict now when these conditions will arise. Although, of course, we are all interested in these conditions occurring sooner rather than later.”
He said both sides agreed a summit required deep preparation in order to be productive.
“Therefore, as soon as this preparation is completed and the conditions for holding the summit are in place, we hope it will take place.”
Announcing the cancelation of the Budapest summit, Trump last month reiterated his frustration with Putin, saying: “Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere.” On October 22, he imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia – targeting oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil – for the first time in his second term.
On Sunday, Trump said US Republicans were working on legislation that would impose sanctions on any country doing business with Russia – something Peskov said would go down very badly with Moscow.
“We’ll see how this bill progresses and what details are involved. We would, of course, take a very negative view of that,” he said.
Trump has already sharply raised tariffs on Indian goods, citing India’s purchases of Russian oil, in what Moscow said amounted to illegal trade pressure.