Putin and Trump Briefly Met on Sidelines of G20 Summit, Kremlin Says
- by Janet Clayton
- in Global
- — Dec 2, 2018
/arc-anglerfish-tgam-prod-tgam.s3.amazonaws.com/public/J2EUQZH7YBEGHE7ZR453JNW77A.JPG)
Putin, also speaking in Buenos Aires, said he told foreign leaders "how the situation unfolded" and then accused Ukraine's government of stoking the conflict "to cover up one's failures in economic and social policy". I have my own.
And during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin was said by a French aide to have drawn a map of the strait off Crimea to buttress his position that the Ukrainian ships had intruded into Russian waters - a claim denied by Kiev.
Ukraine's leader has called on Germany and its allies to boost their naval presence in the Black Sea to deter Russian Federation from further aggression in the region.
The Russian leader, who views global politics as a cynical power play, sees himself as a consummate negotiator who can advance Moscow's interests through strong personal contacts with foreign leaders. On November 30, the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized countries and the European Union called the seizure of the vessels unjustified and demanded Russian Federation free the Ukrainians, saying that the standoff had "dangerously raised tensions".
According to a statement issued by the White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders, "as is typical at multilateral events, President Trump and the First Lady had a number of informal conversations with world leaders at the dinner last night, including President Putin".
Still, what Putin really wants is to make a deal with Trump.
More news: 2.0 box office collection: Rajinikanth-Akshay Kumar starrer may become a ‘flop’More news: Fury and Wilder draw in spectacular heavyweight title clash
More news: Kyle Korver to return to Jazz
"Of course, a new meeting is possible", said Ushakov.
The Ukrainian Navy on Sunday said that Russian forces opened fire and seized three Ukrainian ships near the Kerch Strait, adding that six Ukrainian military sailors were wounded, two of them in serious condition. The question was if the two would still meet in the form of an impromptu discussion on the sidelines of the summit.
There was a risk that the Trump-Putin meeting could have worked out badly for both of them.
More anti-Russian sanctions followed and relations soured further.
Pompeo said that "the President wanted to send a clear, unambiguous message that we find that type of behavior unacceptable, so we canceled the meeting".
He said that when the incident happened, he instructed his office to set up a call with the Kremlin leader to say "we are ready for this negotiation to de-escalate. and unfortunately, until now, Putin did not answer my request for a direct phone conversation".
