Putin Expects Dialogue with Trump to Be Constructive

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes his expected meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump will be constructive, as he himself told the Vesti v Subbotu (Saturday News) with Sergei Brilev show.

“He is a serious-minded person who knows how to listen to people and respond to their arguments. This leads me to believe that dialogue may prove to be constructive,” Putin said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov earlier told TASS that the Foreign Ministry was making comprehensive preparations for a meeting between the Russian and US presidents. He added that such a meeting was necessary for launching the process of improving relations between Moscow and Washington. According to Ryabkov, the US shares this stance.

On March 20, Putin and Trump held a telephone call and agreed to hand down instructions to start preparations for a Russia-US summit. Moreover, later news came that Trump had not only mentioned the possibility of a meeting but also invited Putin to Washington.

Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov said in late May that no preparations were underway for a meeting that could take place before the G20 summit in November.

Putin and Trump earlier held talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit held in Germany’s Hamburg in July 2017. They had another opportunity to hold negotiations during the APEC summit in Vietnam in November 2017 but managed only to exchange a couple of phrases.

R.S