Will Trump and Putin meet peacefully?
It was known all over the world. The controversial Donald Trump proposed a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The offer of the US president was made before the reciprocal expulsions of diplomats for the poisoning of the Russian spy Sergei Skripal. Analysts are skeptical concerning the real possibility of this meeting taking place.
International media echoed the piece of news. The United States President Donald Trump proposed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to organize a meeting at the White House during the last telephone conversation they held on March 20, before the diplomatic crisis triggered by the Skripal case, according to what the Kremlin councilor, Yuri Ushakov, said on Monday. Trump called Putin to "congratulate" him on his re-election in the presidential elections for a fourth term in Russia and spoke with him about the possibility of a meeting. "During his telephone interview, it was Trump himself who proposed the meeting", Ushakov told reporters. "Trump proposed to organize this meeting in Washington, in the White House," he added.
The US President's proposal was made before the reciprocal expulsions of diplomats by the poisoning with a nervous agent of the Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the United Kingdom. It is known that the president of the United States approved the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats on March 26, a measure also carried out by several European countries. Russia, which denies its responsibility in the poisoning and denounces a "provocation" and an "anti-Russian campaign", responded with an expulsion of 60 diplomats as well. The story is far from being over yet.
According to the Kremlin adviser, since March 20, "there was no concrete discussion about the terms of that meeting." "We would like to believe that the measures taken by the Americans on the basis of wrongful accusations will be withdrawn and that we will be able to begin a constructive and serious dialogue," Ushakov said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in late March that Putin was willing to meet with Trump. Is he? The Kremlin councilor admitted that given the tension caused by the expulsion of diplomats and the closure of consulates, "of course, it is difficult to deal with the possibility of a summit." But he added: "We hope that the situation allows us to do it, as we see it, it is something important and necessary for both parties and for the entire international community."