The G20 Summit in Buenos Aires came to its end. It resulted in the approval and signing of a declaration. Vladimir Putin's schedule was very busy. During the summit, the president held several bilateral meetings and a press conference, where he answered many questions.
In particular, the world media inquired the details of the Russian leader's meeting Donald Trump. When could it happen? Here's Vladimir Putin's answer.
Vladimir Putin: "Basically, it was initiated by the Americans. But then we had to cancel the Paris meeting, as we didn't want to undermine the planned schedule of events dedicated to the 100-year anniversary of WWI, so as to not create problems for the hosts. As there were as many as 90 guests, members and heads of governments, and heads of states. The meeting was rescheduled to be held in Buenos Aires. But, unfortunately, as you could see, the Black Sea provocation followed. It appears that the American decided against the meeting on these grounds.
Nonetheless, as everybody there walks around and talks with each other, President Trump and I talked as well. We exchanged a few words. I answered his questions about the Black Sea incident. He has his position regarding those issues. I have mine. Neither of us has changed our views. Nonetheless, I presented our views regarding this incident to him. I regret that we failed to hold a full-scale meeting, as, I believe, we've been needing one for a long time now, concerning the issues of strategic stability, especially after the president announced the USA's intention to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Moreover, the START III Treaty is due to expire in 2021. It concerns strategic stability, the strongest weapons of strategic nature. Apart from this, we talked much earlier about the necessity to restore economic and trade connections, cooperation in other fields, including conflict zones, such as Syria and Afganistan. North Korea is also a big problem for everybody.
We need to maintain dialogue in all of these fields. And it's not just us who is interested in that. Far from that. The USA is among the other countries which are interested. I hope that those meetings will eventually take place, as soon as the Americans are ready".
Martial law in Ukraine was also mentioned. Vladimir Putin noticed that the Kiev's decision to introduce a new legal regime has divided Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin: "When the situation in Ukraine was much more serious than this, nobody imposed martial law. Now, before the elections, it's suddenly time to do it. Why? Naturally, to curtail civil liberties, to limit political activity within the country. And even worse than that. Martial law was imposed only in 10 Oblasts. The ones where the incumbent president is not strongly supported. His policies do not inspire unanimous approval there. What does this mean? Think about it! It means that Ukraine’s leaders have divided the country into two parts with their own hands: the trustworthy part, and the not-so-trustworthy".
