Putin arrives in Hamburg for G20 summit & 1st face-to-face with Trump (VIDEO)
Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Hamburg late Thursday night for the G20 summit and the highly anticipated first in person contact with his US counterpart Donald Trump, scheduled on the sidelines of the top world leaders’ meeting.
The Russian leader was greeted at the Helmut Schmidt Airport ahead of the G20 summit of the world’s leading economies in Hamburg, Germany.
The highlight of Putin’s visit to Germany will be the eagerly awaited first ever meeting with President Trump Friday.
Details of the agenda are scant, but its understood that Putin and Trump plan to discuss the ongoing conflict in Syria and touch on other important security issues pertaining to North Korea and Ukraine.
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The Russian president has also been invited to a formal reception hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel Friday evening.
Putin will also attend at least two G20 sessions, in addition to one “informal meeting” which will presumably discuss issues of global terrorism as well as Middle East tensions, TASS reported.
The Russian president is also expected to hold talks with the heads of state of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will also have an opportunity to engage Putin on the ongoing North Korean crisis. Putin is expected to depart the G20 gathering at the end of the summit Saturday.
Prior to his arrival, Putin penned an article for German business newspaper, Handelsblatt, where he praised the work of the G20. He also urged the organization to do more to combat cybercrime. Putin also called on G20 leaders to modernize economic models, which, he said, were being retarded by protectionist policies coupled with the abusive practice of unilateral sanctions.
