Trump plans to meet with Putin during Asia trip

President Trump said shortly before landing in Japan Sunday that he expects to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his 12-day trip to Asia. 

Trump told a gaggle of reporters during his flight to Japan that the two are expecting to meet to discuss North Korea.

“I think it’s expected we’ll meet with Putin, yeah. We want Putin’s help on North Korea, and we’ll be meeting with a lot of different leaders,” Trump said.

The comment comes after Trump suggested earlier this week that the two world leaders might meet.  {mosads}

Asked Thursday by Fox News host Laura Ingraham on “The Ingraham Angle” whether he will speak with Putin on his trip, Trump said, “We may have a meeting with Putin. And, again — Putin is very important because they can help us with North Korea.”

Trump and Putin first met in July during the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. The bilateral meeting reportedly lasted for more than two hours, rather than the 30 minutes it had been scheduled for.  

This second meeting would come just days after the first indictments were handed down against Trump campaign staffers in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference.