—After your visit to Helsinki, America invited you to attend another summit suggesting that you meet Donald Trump in Washington later this year. As far as I understand, America has opted to push back this meeting until next year. My question is, when do you expect this meeting to take place and will you accept the invitation? Generally speaking, considering that there are so many moves in different directions do you believe that Trump can deliver on his promise to improve Russian-American relations? Thank you.
President Putin:
—You know the fact that President Trump always seeks to deliver on his promises primarily those he gives to his voters, the American people is one of his greater assets. I believe this to be a positive trait of the current president since more often than not, leaders are quick to forget what they promised when heading into the election. This is not the case with Trump. He can be criticized for what he does, as so many do but it is also clear that he tries to deliver on his campaign promises. As for our meetings, I find them useful. Let me reiterate what I've already said: In Helsinki, we discussed matters of vital concern for our states. For example, the New START Treaty is set to expire in 2021. So will we renew it or not? Containing the arms race is something that both the US and Russia are interested in the same applies to the whole world. In 2021, the New START Treaty will cease to exist unless we state negotiations since we have been unable to resolve some issues that have arisen in the course of its implementation.
There are other related problems, for example, settling conflicts, including in Syria. Yes, we do have working contacts, but this is never enough since top-level political contact is also essential. We need to accommodate the interests of all states within the region including Syria, as well as Iran, Israel, Turkey, and many other states in the region such as Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, etc. But will we discuss all this at the top political level or not? Or is this a secondary issue for us? I think that this is not the case. This is not a secondary issue, and the same applies to the JCPOA — the Iranian nuclear program. Is this a matter of concern for Iran only, or only for the United States? No, it is relevant for many states around the world, including all of Europe, and many others. What I mean is that I believe that the JCPOA is an effective instrument for containing the arms race and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This can be a matter of controversy or the subject of talks but how can this be carried out when there are no meetings? No, you can't just discuss all of this over the phone.
As for further meetings, I understand what President Trump said. He wants to hold further meetings, and I am ready for this as well but we need the right conditions, including in our two countries. We're ready for such meetings. We're ready to invite President Trump to Moscow. Incidentally, he has an invitation; I told him about it. And I am ready to come to Washington. But again, the right conditions must be in place. We will generally remain in contact in the near future including at the venues of various international events, for example, G20. There are also plans for possible contacts at other international forums. So, despite difficulties, in this case, the domestic political situation in the US, life goes on and our contacts continue.
