MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on talks to set up a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump (all times local):
5:30 p.m.
A foreign affairs adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow and Washington have reached an agreement on Putin having a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov said talks between Kremlin officials and Trump’s national security adviser Wednesday yielded the agreement on the time and venue of the summit.
The Kremlin and the White House are to formally announce the date and location on Thursday. Ushakov says the summit will take place in a third country.
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10:55 a.m.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser is due in Moscow to lay the groundwork for a possible U.S.-Russia summit.
National Security Adviser John Bolton will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday. The Kremlin would not say whether Bolton would also meet with President Vladimir Putin.
Anticipation has been high for a possible Trump-Putin meeting as Trump seeks to mend strained relations with Russia. Ties between the two nations have sunk to the lowest point in decades.
Lavrov has said previously that Moscow “is ready for contacts.” Vienna, Austria has been mentioned as a possible location for such a meeting.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Bolton’s meetings in Moscow would focus on bilateral relations, international stability and regional problems.
Russian presidential foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said after the talks that Moscow and Washington had reached agreement on the time and venue of a summit between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump.
The Kremlin and the White House are to formally announce the date and venue on Thursday, He said the summit would take place in a third country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton for talks intended to set the stage for a U.S.-Russian summit.
Putin greeted Bolton in the Kremlin on Wednesday, noting that U.S.-Russian relations are at a low point, which he said was mostly due to the U.S. political infighting, and voiced hope that Bolton’s visit would make the first steps toward improving ties.
He added that Russia never wanted a confrontation with the U.S., offering to discuss what can be done to “restore full-fledged relations based on equality and mutual respect.”
Bolton said he was looking forward to discussing “how to improve Russia-U.S. relations and find areas where we can agree and make progress together.”
He added that when Moscow and Washington had differences in the past, Russian and U.S. leaders met and that was “good for both countries, good for stability in the world.” Bolton noted that “President Trump feels very strongly on that subject.”
Bolded said that he would like to hear Putin’s account of “how you handled the World Cup so successfully” in anticipation of the United States co-hosting the 2026 World Cup.
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