"Washington summit with Putin was Trump’s idea; But no preparation underway"

The meeting between the presidents of two powerful nations Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin could take place in Washington DC, the White House and Kremlin have confirmed.

Amid tensions between the two countries over the Skripal issue, the Russian news agency Tass said that Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists on Monday that during a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump had proposed Washington DC as the venue for talks between the Russian and US heads of state.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, responding to Russian media reports that Trump had extended an invitation to Putin, said, "As the president himself confirmed on March 20, hours after his last call with President Putin, the two had discussed a bilateral meeting in the 'not-too-distant future' at a number of potential venues, including the White House."

"We have nothing further to add at this time," Sanders was quoted by NBC News.

Russian news agency quoted Mr Ushakov as saying, "If everything goes well, I hope that the American side would not abandon its proposal to discuss the possibility of organizing the summit talks."

No preparations for a meeting between Putin and Trump are underway following their telephone call, according to Ushakov.

"After the conversation, which was constructive and business-like and touched upon many issues, there was another breakdown in our bilateral relations, 60 diplomats were expelled, our consulate was closed and Russia had to furnish a tit-for-tat response to that," Ushakov noted.

"Since March 20, the day when the telephone conversation took place, there haven’t been specific discussions on a possible meeting," he added. "In the wake of the recent developments, it would be difficult to discuss a summit," he pointed out.

According to Ushakov, since March 20, "there was no time for such discussions and no one to take part in them." However, in his words, Russia believes such an event "would be rather important and beneficial for both countries, as well as for the entire global community."

"We would like to believe that preparations for such a meeting will begin," the Kremlin aide said. "We would also hope that there would be an end to the steps the Americans have taken based on groundless allegations," he noted, adding that it would make it possible to "launch a very serious and constructive dialogue."

Video Source: Washington Post