White House Says Trump Won’t Formally Meet With Putin; Kremlin Suggests Otherwise

Ken MeyerNov 10th, 2017, 11:13 am
 

It seems Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her counterparts in the Russian government have different ideas about the scope and scale of any meetings that will happen between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin today.

As the president headed to Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, Sanders told the White House Press Corps that there wouldn’t be any “formal meeting” between Trump and Putin. The press secretary said it was possible that the two leaders could “bump into each other” and say hello, though she insisted that there wouldn’t be any larger discussion due to “scheduling conflicts on both sides.”

Side-line meetings are to be expected during international events like these, and Trump and Putin did, in fact, shake hands and talk when they stood next to each other for a group photo with other world leaders.

However, the Kremlin’s media office seems to be contrasting Sanders by suggesting that a larger encounter between Trump and Putin could take place before the summit is over. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says there’s a “great” likelihood of a meeting with Trump, and the encounter will happen “one way or another.”

“The meeting will take place on the sidelines,” Peskov said. “It is obvious that it will be a good opportunity to exchange opinions on the most vital issues, both international and bilateral.”

Any larger meeting between Trump and Putin is likely to attract attention due to the ongoing intrigue surrounding the indictments of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, as well as George Papadopoulos‘ guilty plea about lying to federal investigators about his connections with Russia.

[Image via screengrab]

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