The meeting of the Russian and the US presidents finished half an hour ago. It lasted for about 90 minutes. There have already been some speculations on the outcome of the talks.
Stas Natanzon, our correspondent in Japan, is going to share them. He's live from Osaka.
- Stas, hello. Was the meeting really so noisy that one could hardly make out the journalists' questions?
- Ekaterina, indeed, everyone was extremely excited.
Journalists started to practically camp the room where the meeting of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump was supposed to take place long before its beginning. When they were let in, they saw both leaders sitting in their armchairs. They were accompanied by their delegations. An avalanche of questions followed. In particular, American journalists yelled questions, trying to find out if Donald Trump had asked Vladimir Putin not to interfere in any US elections. Donald Trump's answer, I suppose, was quite exquisite. He just turned to Vladimir Putin and said, smiling: "Please don't interfere in our elections".
So, the matter was settled explicitly. Of course, the talks were likely to focus on different issues. In any case, one of the main items on the agenda was the arms race or disarmament, meaning the treaties that the US has been precipitately withdrawing from, including the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or the refusal to extend New START to 2021. These are the major topics. Moreover, judging by the delegation members, it was about trade wars and economic issues.
The Russian delegation included Anton Siluanov, who heads the economic section of the government. The American team had Mr. Mnuchin, the Secretary of the Treasury. Clearly, they tackled some economic issues. But let's listen to what Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin said before the talks.
Donald Trump: "Hello, everybody. Both President Putin's delegation and my delegation have many things to discuss, including trade, and including some disarmament, a little protectionism, perhaps, in a very positive way. I believe the meeting will be very fruitful".
Vladimir Putin: “I can't but agree with Mr. President: We do have much to discuss. He's already outlined all the topics. We have not met for a long time. The last time we met was in Helsinki. But our teams have been working, giving us a chance to develop what we agreed on in Helsinki. So, thanks to both parties. Thank you for your attention.”
Of course, it didn't go unnoticed that the meeting took longer than expected. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump were supposed to talk for an hour, but they talked for 80 minutes instead, which had an impact on the schedule of the G20 summit. The working session, which was supposed to start 15 minutes ago, hasn't started yet. Obviously, there's no point in starting the G20 working session without Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Besides, they started talking in the morning. Before the family photo ceremony, both leaders were seen to come together, and Donald Trump even tried to stand next to Vladimir Putin, but the Japanese protocol officers said that it was impossible as Donald Trump was assigned another spot in the photo.
Moreover, today, Vladimir Putin has already attended the working meeting of BRICS leaders. It lasted for about 20 minutes. Then he had a bilateral meeting with the South African President. What's more, Vladimir Putin is to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, British PM Theresa May, who is on her way out, and President of South Korea Moon.
At the same time, with such a serious business-like agenda for G20 leaders and heads of international organizations, even the leaders' spouses have meetings. They discuss the same serious urgent political and environmental issues. Besides politics and trade wars, the environment is one of the key issues in this G20 summit's agenda. It's likely to be mentioned in the final communique that is to be adopted tomorrow following the summit.
These are the latest developments in Osaka. Ekaterina?
- Thank you! We're looking forward to hearing some more details. Let me remind you that while it's morning in Moscow, it's already the afternoon in Osaka. That was Stas Natanzon live from the opening of the G20 summit.
