Russia and US preparing for summit ‘without delay’ – Kremlin
Russia and the US will immediately start preparing for the next meeting between the countries’ presidents, Vladimir Putin’s aide, Yury Ushakov, has said.
The comments come after US President Donald Trump announced a potential summit following a phone call with the Russian leader earlier on Thursday.
The first conversation between the two leaders in almost two months lasted nearly two and a half hours, according to Ushakov, who described the conversation as “very useful.”
The sides “have agreed that representatives of the two nations would start working on a new summit without delay,” the official told journalists, adding that it could be held in Budapest. Earlier, Trump also mentioned the Hungarian capital as the host city for the potential meeting.
According to Ushakov, Moscow expects US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to hold a phone call “in the coming days” to discuss preparations for the summit.
Trump suggested Budapest as the meeting place, the official said, adding that Putin immediately supported the idea.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his country is ready to host the summit and called the planned meeting “great news for the peace-loving people of the world.”
Trump described his phone call with Putin “very productive,” adding that “great progress was made” during the conversation. According to the US president, high-level talks between the two nations’ delegations are also expected next week.
Putin and Trump last met in mid-August in Alaska. It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two since 2019. Both leaders called the summit productive, although no breakthrough was achieved.
The dialogue that began at the Alaska summit continues, Lavrov said on Wednesday, adding that the two nations can still “do much” on the basis of understandings reached at the meeting. Russia is still waiting for a US response to its Ukraine peace roadmap presented in Alaska, according to the foreign minister.
