US President Donald Trump (right) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin
talk as they make their way to take the "family photo" during the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in the central
Vietnamese city of Danang, on November 11, 2017. AFP PHOTO | JORGE
SILVA
A long-awaited summit between US President Donald Trump and his
Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will take place in Helsinki on July
16, the Kremlin and the White House said in simultaneous statements
Thursday.
"An agreement has been reached that on July
16 in Helsinki there will be a meeting between the President of the
Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the President of the United States
Donald Trump," the Kremlin said.
The talks will see
the two leaders discuss "the current state and prospects for development
of Russian-US relations," according to the release.
A statement from the White House said the men would also broach "a range of national security issues".
Trump's
national security advisor John Bolton met Putin in Moscow on Wednesday.
The two discussed the details of the first full summit between the
presidents.
US-Russian relations have hit lows not seen
since the Cold War over Moscow's annexation of Crimea, its involvement
in eastern Ukraine and allegations of political meddling, as well as
disagreement over the Syrian conflict.
Since coming to power last year, Trump has sought to improve relations with Putin amid tensions between Moscow and the West.
Trump
said this month that Russia should be re-admitted to the G7 group of
industrialised democracies from which it was suspended after annexing
Crimea in 2014.
That comment came at a summit which ended in sharp disagreement between Trump and his G7 allies.
The last, brief meeting between Putin and Trump took place in November 2017 in Vietnam during an APEC summit.
Trump
is due to attend the July 11 and 12 NATO summit in Brussels before
heading to Britain to meet with Prime Minister Theresa May and Queen
Elizabeth II on July 13.
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