The Kremlin says it has received an invitation for Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with President Trump in Washington at the end of the year, as suggested by US security adviser John Bolton.
While preparations for a new summit have not yet been made, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that there was a need for another summit after last week’s Helsinki meeting.
In the meantime, Ushakov hinted that Trump and Putin could potentially meet at the G20 summit in Argentina this November.
"Maybe there will be other international events which Trump and Putin will take part in,” he said.
At last week’s meeting in Helsinki, the two leaders discussed US-Russian competition in international energy markets, as well as cooperation in fighting terrorism and working towards a denuclearized North Korea.
Trump and Putin both drew attention to the coordination between the US and Russian militaries in Syria, who work together to avoid unintentional clashes. Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said on Tuesday that a Putin-Trump summit could lead to deeper military cooperation between Russia, the US, and NATO.
After the Helsinki summit, Trump asked National Security Adviser John Bolton to contact the Kremlin to establish a “working level” dialog and set up a second meeting “so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed, including stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear proliferation, cyber attacks, trade, Ukraine, Middle East peace, North Korea and more.”
While Trump was slammed by Democrats, Republicans and the US media for not pressing Putin enough on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, a recent poll found that 54 percent of Americans support a second summit between the two leaders in Washington.
The survey, carried out for The Hill, also found that 61 percent of Americans say that better relations with Russia are in the best interest of the United States.