Preparations for Putin-Trump meeting underway

Preparations for Putin-Trump meeting underway

Practical preparations for the meeting between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are under way, but no understanding has been reached yet on the date and the place, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said at a round table conference in the State Duma.

In comments on a recent meeting between the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Bonn, the diplomat said that the sides had discussed relations between the two countries and also planned bilateral contacts, including the preparation of the first personal encounter between the leaders of both countries, TASS reported.

The diplomat added that there is mutual understanding with Washington on this score.

Ryabkov also said that Russia’s adversaries in the US Congress are attempting to organize an economic blockade of Russia by pushing a bill that would prevent the US President Donald Trump from easing sanctions against Moscow.

"Our adversaries are going out of their way to trample out any hope of improving our relations [between Russia and the US]," Ryabkov said, referring to bipartisan legislation which would impose strict Congressional oversight over the Trump administration should President Trump move to lift sanctions on Russia.

"In other words, in fact [the US Congress wants to] organize something like an economic blockade of Russia," he said.

He warned that the passage of the bill cannot be ruled out "taking into account the prevailing anti-Russian sentiment on Capitol Hill."

According to him, the Russian Foreign ministry does not dramatize the situation, as they understand that Trump and his appointees need time to fine-tune the foreign policy bloc and clarify priorities. “But we are carefully documenting all the signals coming out of Washington,” Ryabkov concluded.

The deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association, Andrey Baklanov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that currently the study of the issues and the substantive content of future negotiations of the Russian and US presidents are being carried out.  "As for the place, there are two possibilities: either the leaders will meet on the sidelines of the international meeting, for example, the G20 summit in Germany, or a meeting will be held in a bilateral format," he said.

According to the diplomat, the meeting of Putin and Trump is very important. "Relations between Russia and the United States are not satisfactory and at historically low levels. There are a number of things that impede the realization of our role in maintaining peace and security, in particular in the Middle East. There are also difficulties in the implementation of duties by Russia and the US as the UN Security Council members. It was not Moscow's fault and requires normalization. It seems quite difficult to solve this problem without a meeting at the highest level," Andrey Baklanov stressed.

"The Presidents will certainly discuss the topic of a joint response to crisis situations in the world, primarily in the Middle East, the Syrian crisis, the fight against international terrorism. Such trouble spots as Afghanistan are also urgent. Second, the issue of trade and economic relations will be touched. Since our trade with the United States is insignificant, to a greater extent it will involve determining the rules of the game in the financial and economic plane on the international arena. Third, the bilateral relations," the deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association noted.

The Director of the Institute of Strategic Planning and Forecasting, Professor Alexander Gusev, suggested that the meeting between Putin and Trump, which is definitely necessary due to the situation in Syria and Ukraine, will be held in Ljubljana.

"Dmitry Peskov said that the meeting will be probably held in July at the G20 summit in Germany. But the president have an urgent need to speak in the near future. In this case, there are variants of Finland, Iceland or Slovenia. The preparations will take two or three weeks, and, most likely,  the meeting will be held in Ljubljana on the invitation of Slovenian President," the expert explained.

Speaking of the date, Gusev named the first decade of April, noting that Vladimir Putin's meeting with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled for 9-10 March in Moscow. "Before meeting with Trump, the serious preparations will be held to ensure the safety of the two presidents," the analyst pointed out.

Speaking about the possible agenda of the talks, the expert named the Russian-US relations, which should be improved. "They will definitely touch the new START Treaty. If the Americans get out of his contract, it will create serious difficulties for the negotiation process," he noted.

In addition, according to the Director of the Institute of Strategic Planning and Forecasting, they will discuss the placement of conventional weapons in Europe. "We are very concerned about the European missile defense system, which is now being created by the US.  Of course, Montenegro's accession to NATO will be discussed," Gusev stressed.

Within the framework of the Syrian issue, the presidents are likely to talk about the situation in Raqqa and the Kurdish problem, the expert said. He added that Iran's nuclear program will also be touched upon.

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