- President Donald Trump proposed holding a meeting at the White House during a recent phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Kremlin aide told reporters Monday.
- The White House confirmed Trump and Putin discussed holding a meeting in the “not too distant future” during the phone call but said it has “nothing further to add at this time.”
- This news comes amid major diplomatic tensions between Russia, the U.S. and its allies in relation to the poisoning of Sergei V. Skripal, a former Russian double agent.
- Experts warn inviting Putin to the White House would be a “mistake.”
President Donald Trump proposed holding a meeting at the White House during a recent phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Kremlin aide told reporters Monday, a move experts warn could have grave political consequences.
“If everything goes well, I hope that the American side would not refuse its proposal to discuss the possibility of organizing the summit talks,” Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said, according to Russian news agency TASS. “During a telephone conversation between our presidents, Trump suggested that the first meeting could be held in Washington.”
Reuters/Carlos Barria
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed Trump and Putin discussed holding a meeting in the “not-too-distant-future” during the March 20 phone call, in which Trump controversially congratulated the Russian leader on his recent reelection (he was warned against doing so by his national security advisers). The two world leaders reportedly suggested a number of different venues for the potential meeting, including the White House, during the conversation. But no specific date has been set and the Trump administration said it has “nothing further to add at this time.”
This news comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions between Russia, the U.S. and its allies in relation to the poisoning of Sergei V. Skripal––a former Russian double agent––in the UK. Skripal’s daughter was also poisoned.
The British and U.S. governments have accused Russia of orchestrating the poisoning and have both taken diplomatic actions as a result. Last month, the Trump administration expelled 60 Russian diplomats. Russia responded shortly thereafter by expelling 60 U.S. diplomats.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election is ongoing. The president has frequently referred to this investigation as a “witch hunt” and maintains there was no collusion.
In this context, a meeting between Trump and Putin would be heavily scrutinized––particularly if it occurred at the White House.
Ushakov acknowledged the troubled state of relations between the U.S. and Russia on Monday, stating there have been no discussions of a meeting since the phone call on March 20. “In the wake of the recent developments, it would be difficult to discuss a summit,” Ushakov said. But the Kremlin aide also said he believed a meeting between the two leaders “would be rather important and beneficial for both countries, as well as for the entire global community.”
Reuters/Jorge Silva
Trump and Putin met at the G20 summit in Germany last July and at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam in November. But experts warn a summit in Washington would be far more symbolic and might send the wrong message.
Dr. Pavel Baev, a fellow at Brookings Institution and Russia expert, said it would be a huge “mistake” for Trump to hold a summit with Putin in Washington.
“If [Trump’s] national security team instructed him ‘DO NOT CONGRATULATE,’ his legal team should have written in even larger letters ‘DO NOT INVITE.’ It is not just a risky initiative, it is also quite inappropriate, given Trump’s decision to expel very high number of diplomats––and given a high probability of further sanctions,” Baev said via email on Monday.
Baev said Trump already made a mistake in agreeing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and has made yet another diplomatic and strategic error by discussing a potential summit with Putin. “Sometimes, mistakes can cancel one another, but in this case, aggravation is looming,” Baev said.
Dr. Brandon Valeriano, Donald Bren Chair of Armed Politics at Marine Corps University, expressed similar sentiments.
“There is really no point in engaging Putin directly unless there is an intention to settle the outstanding issues between the states: the 2016 election hack, the invasion of Ukraine, the invasion of Georgia, human rights violations in Syria and to gain leverage over Iran and North Korea in future negotiations,” Valeriano said. “Without a serious effort to deal with these issues, any diplomatic meeting will be hollow.”
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