Kremlin hints at meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump before G20 summit in July
THE Kremlin said today there was talk of a possible meeting between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump taking place before a G20 summit in July, but there was nothing specific to report so far.
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The two men have never met, but both have said they want to try to mend battered US-Russia ties, which fell to their lowest level since the Cold War after Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea.
The new US administration is under pressure over Russia however because Michael Flynn, President Trump's national security adviser, is struggling to get past a controversy over a call he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak before President Trump took office.
Kremlin hints at meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump before G20 summit in July
Obviously every ambassador informs the centre (Moscow) about all the contacts he has so the information gets to us
Top White House officials have been reviewing over the weekend Flynn's contacts and whether he discussed the possibility of lifting US sanctions on Russia once President Trump took office, which could potentially be in violation of a law banning private citizens from engaging in foreign policy.
When asked about it today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters that Mr Flynn and Ambassador Kislyak had not discussed lifting sanctions on Moscow.
The two men have never met, but both have said they want to try to mend battered US-Russia ties
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"Obviously every ambassador informs the centre (Moscow) about all the contacts he has so the information gets to us, but we are not willing to comment on internal discussions being held in Washington," Mr Peskov said.
Asked if there had been talks between any Russian and US representatives on easing sanctions, Mr Peskov said: "We have already said there have not been any (such talks)".