And now, breaking news. A meeting between the Russian and the US Presidents will be held in Helsinki after a NATO summit. Donald Trump himself has told about this, as reported by Bloomberg L.P. The leaders are to announce the place and the time of the summit tomorrow. Today, the details were discussed in Moscow by John Bolton, the US National Security Advisor.
Darya Kozlova will tell us what exactly they will talk about.
Talks in an expanded format were held in the Kremlin and lasted for over 2 hours. Both parties expressed hope to restore full-fledged cooperation.
Vladimir Putin: "I have to say with regret that Russian-American relations are not in the best shape. And I’ve already said this repeatedly in public, and I am saying this to you now. I think that this is largely due to the keen internal political struggle within the US itself. Your arrival in Moscow has given us hope that we can make the first steps to reviving full-scale relations between our states. Russia never sought confrontation, and I hope that today we will be able to discuss what we can both do in order to restore full-fledged relations based on equality and mutual respect for each other’s interests".
And of course, soccer wasn't left out these days. The World Cup was discussed in the Kremlin, too. In June, the US, Canada, and Mexico won the right to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Of course, the Americans are closely observing how the event has been organized in Russia.
John Bolton, the US National Security Advisor: "The US would love to find out how Russia got to host the World Cup so successfully".
Vladimir Putin: "Thank you".
Politically, the sides focused on further development of the bilateral relations and resolving regional crises. They discussed the situation in Ukraine, Syrian settlement, the North Korean crisis, and denuclearization. They didn't discuss lifting the sanctions and reinstating Russian and American diplomatic staffs.
John Bolton is summarizing the day at Moscow's open press conference. The US National Security Advisor and his assistant Sarah Tinsley are among the speakers. And John Huntsman, the US Ambassador to Russia, is sitting in the first row. Generally, the composition of the US delegation confirms that John Bolton is here to discuss specific issues in the bilateral relations at the working level. During the press conference, the US National Security Advisor doesn't rule out that the upcoming summit might consider Russia's return to G7 and that the revival of G8. Donald Trump already made such statement during the G7 summit in Canada. He intends to continue in the same vein despite the differences within the US political circles.
John Bolton: "There's a lot of political noise about this alleged meeting. The President's critics say there are certain problems with arranging it. However, President Trump believes that such face-to-face meeting will benefit both the US and the Russian Federation. It will contribute to strengthening peace and security all over the world".
Also, John Bolton met with Sergey Lavrov and the members of the Security Council of Russia, He also summarized the day during the negotiations with Yuri Ushakov, aide to the Russian President. During the latest meeting, they discussed the details of the upcoming summit. It's supposedly scheduled for July to follow a NATO summit. According to Yuri Ushakov, the meeting will be held in a neutral country. The venue is convenient both for the US and Russia.
Darya Kozlova, Evgeny Kirilenko, Dmitry Tolstoukhov, Herman Makienko, Vesti.
