Kremlin urges new meeting between Trump and Putin

Moscow hopes to arrange a meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin before next year, following Trump canceling a meeting between them at last week’s Group of 20 (G-20) summit.

“Of course a new meeting is possible,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, Reuters reports. “Now we need to again have talks about preparing such a meeting.”

Ushakov pointed to next summer’s G-20 summit when asked when the meeting might take place.

{mosads}“But it seems to me that it’s very important for us and for them to find a way of meeting before then,” said Ushakov.

Trump canceled his meeting with Russia after Russian vessels opened fire on Ukrainian ships and then seized multiple ships as well as sailors. 

Russian officials have insisted Trump canceled the meeting over a “domestic” political situation, not an international one. 

Russia has said that they were provoked into firing when the Ukrainian ships began behaving aggressively.

Russia is reportedly planning to move anti-aircraft missiles to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, as tensions escalate.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Putin of trying to annex his entire country.

“Don’t believe Putin’s lies,” Poroshenko said last Thursday. 

“Putin wants the old Russian empire back,” he said. “Crimea, Donbass, the whole country. As Russian Tsar, as he sees himself, his empire can’t function without Ukraine. He sees us as his colony.”

Russia’s move drew widespread criticism from the international community and U.S. lawmakers.

Last Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed the Kremlin for the move, calling it a “dangerous escalation.”

“The United States condemns this aggressive Russian action,” Pompeo said. “We call on Russia to return to Ukraine its vessels and detained crew members, and to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters.”