No Putin - Trump meeting?

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed political ructions in the United States for difficulties in arranging a summit with President Donald Trump.

Putin said last month the proposed summit was beset by problems and was not working out for now.

Asked by Austrian broadcaster ORF why it was taking so long to arrange, he said: "You have to ask our colleagues in the USA. In my view it is the consequence of the fierce domestic political contest in the United States."

"In one of our last discussions, Donald said he is concerned about the danger of a new arms race. I agree with him entirely," Putin said in a short extract released ahead of the full interview, to be broadcast on Monday evening.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that the issue on a possible meeting between Russian and US Presidents lacks particular details and initiative of Washington. "There is still the lack of initiative of our US partners," Peskov noted.

On March 20, Putin and Trump held a telephone conversation and agreed to hand down instructions to start preparations for a Russia-US summit. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the White House is planning for a potential summit between Trump and Putin, but Trump is currently focusing on the summit with Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, according to an administration official. "If negotiations there continue, [work on the Russia summit] will be delayed," the official said.

The WSJ writes that the meeting between the two presidents would be expected to include discussions on Syria, Ukraine and nuclear-arms control. And the summit’s purpose would be to resolve longstanding differences, people familiar with the matter said.

A member of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education, Culture, a representative of the executive body of state power of the Ryazan Region, Igor Morozov, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Russophobe politicians have the upper hand in Washington now, due to which the prospect of a meeting of presidents is becoming more remote. Judging by the weak activity of the presidential administration, Trump is having a very difficult time, which explains the constant postponement of the meeting. And in the foreseeable future it is difficult to imagine that it can be constructive from the US side," the senator predicts.

"We see that there is an escalation of the military grouping on the contact line in Ukraine, the US has supplied the anti-tank missile systems Javelin to Kiev, as well as sent their instructors to train the units of the ground forces of the land forces of Ukraine. In Syria, the situation is very complicated, the US military manages the militants, the camp of the U.S.-led coalition in Al Tanf is becoming a new hotbed of tension. Jerusalem has become a stumbling block to the international situation, the aggravation of the situation in the Gaza Strip was due to Trump's decision to transfer the Israeli embassy. As a result, we currently have no points of contact with Washington, which could be discussed with the US in a constructive manner," Igor Morozov stressed.

"Undoubtedly, the presidents will be able to meet without a separate summit - for example at international venues like the G20. Now a lot will depend on the November elections to Congress. If Trump is able to strengthen Congress with his supporters, chances that Russian-US relations will enter in a more active phase will increase. If not, then it is unlikely that Trump will be able to change the overall domestic political situation in the US," the member of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture pointed out.

The senior research fellow at the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Olenchenko, recalled that it was Trump who proposed in March to hold personal talks with Putin. "Normally, such a proposal is followed by instructions from the presidential administration about the preparation of the visit. Judging by the media reports, there is simply no active Washington actions on this issue, and indeed, there is a very strong factor of the domestic political struggle in the United States. This struggle is constantly stimulated both by internal and external events. We can only wait for Trump to find the strength to activate the work on preparing a meeting with Putin, since the initiative came from him," the expert said.

Vladimir Olenchenko expressed his confidence that, sooner or later, this meeting will be repeated. "As for the idea itself, sensible politicians in the United States are interested in talks between Trump and Putin. The meeting will be important for the entire world community, and it would be better if it was held as soon as possible, since Russian-US relations affect the vast majority of global events," the senior research fellow at the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences concluded.