President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at next week's G20 summit in Germany, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster confirmed Thursday, amid investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Trump's campaign and the country's officials.
The president raised eyebrows for heaping praise on Putin during the campaign, but denied having a "relationship" with the Russian leader.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the Kremlin said that Russia was ready to attend a full-scale meeting -- the first since Trump has taken office -- in addition to any interactions the pair would have at the summit.
In November 2013, Trump said on MSNBC he has "a relationship" with Putin, who he claims sent him "a present" when he attended the Miss Universe pageant in 2013, that he "got to know [Putin] very well" when they both appeared -- in separate segments -- on an episode of "60 Minutes" and that they had communicated "directly and indirectly."
Trump later walked back the idea of a relationship with Putin in a 2016 interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.
"I have no relationship to -- with him. I have no relationship with him," said Trump, later continuing, "He said something nice about me. This has been going on. We did 60 Minutes together. By the way, not together-together, meaning he was probably shot in Moscow… and I was shot in New York."
"I have never spoken to him on the phone," added Trump.
Since then he and Putin have shared several phone calls since Trump's inauguration.
from ABC News: Politics http://ift.tt/2sWf8Ep
0 Response to "Trump meeting with Putin amid Russia investigations"
Posting Komentar