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Donald Trump postpones summit with Vladimir Putin until new year Donald Trump postpones summit with Vladimir Putin until new year
(about 1 hour later)
Donald Trump’s proposed Washington meeting with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has been delayed until 2019.Donald Trump’s proposed Washington meeting with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has been delayed until 2019.
The national security adviser, John Bolton, in a statement, cited special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election as the reason for the delay.The national security adviser, John Bolton, in a statement, cited special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election as the reason for the delay.
Bolton said: “The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we’ve agreed that it will be after the first of the year.”Bolton said: “The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we’ve agreed that it will be after the first of the year.”
While the statement signaled optimism that the Mueller investigation would be completed by the end of this year, no timetable has been given for when it will be wrapped up and it could very well stretch into 2019.
The White House said last week that Trump had directed Bolton to invite Putin to Washington for a meeting in the fall. This came amid the backlash over Trump’s performance at a news conference with Putin following their Helsinki summit, and many members of Congress had objected to them meeting again in the fall.The White House said last week that Trump had directed Bolton to invite Putin to Washington for a meeting in the fall. This came amid the backlash over Trump’s performance at a news conference with Putin following their Helsinki summit, and many members of Congress had objected to them meeting again in the fall.
Meanwhile, the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said on Wednesday the United States will never recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea as he sought to fend off charges from lawmakers and others that Trump and his administration are being soft on Russia. The decision came days after the White House rejected a Putin-backed effort to hold a referendum in eastern Ukraine on the region’s future. The secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said on Wednesday, before the announcement, that the US would never recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea and demanded that Ukraine’s territorial integrity be restored.
In a statement titled “Crimea Declaration”, Pompeo said the US will continue to insist that Ukraine’s territorial integrity be restored. He said the US would hold to its longstanding principle of refusing to recognize Kremlin claims of sovereignty over territory seized by force in violation of international law. And he called for Russia to respect principles it claims to respect and “end its occupation of Crimea”. Other signs had already emerged raising doubts about the second Trump-Putin summit. On Tuesday, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, threw cold water on the prospect of Putin accepting Trump’s invitation to visit the White House.
“In concert with allies, partners, and the international community, the United States rejects Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea and pledges to maintain this policy until Ukraine’s territorial integrity is restored,” Pompeo said in the declaration, which was released by the state department shortly before he was to testify before the Senate foreign relations committee. Ushakov told journalists in Moscow that no preparations were under way for a meeting in Washington and there were “other options that our leaders could consider”, such as the late November meeting of the Group of 20 in Argentina or another international event that both would attend.
Pompeo is expected to face tough questioning from committee members about Trump’s summit with Putin. Trump has prevoiusly suggested that US opposition to Russia’s annexation of Crimea could be reconsidered. Trump has long been seeking to bring Putin to Washington for a meeting. The president met Putin on the sidelines of two international summits last year – first in Germany, then Vietnam – and both times he invited his Russian counterpart to the White House, according to three current and former administration officials. He reiterated the invitation on a call with Putin in the spring.
In anticipation of potentially hostile questions, the Crimea Declaration sought to underscore US commitments to the post-second world war international order that many believe Trump has weakened. Pompeo also said on Wednesday that he had personally warned Russian officials to abstain from interference in American elections and will work with Congress on new sanctions against Moscow.
In it, Pompeo took Russia to task for it actions in Ukraine, particularly the 2014 annexation of Crimea. Russia has defended its move, saying the annexation was approved by Crimean voters in a referendum. The US and its European allies have all said the referendum was illegal as it was held without the consent of the government in Kiev and was conducted in a highly flawed manner. “In Helsinki, we sought to explore whether Russia was interested in improving the relationship, but made clear that the ball is in Russia’s court,” Pompeo told the Senate foreign relations committee, referring to Donald Trump’s recent summit with Vladimir Putin.
“Through its actions, Russia has acted in a manner unworthy of a great nation and has chosen to isolate itself from the international community,” Pompeo said in the statement. “We defended America’s fundamental strategic interests in Syria and Ukraine, and I personally made clear to the Russians that there will be severe consequences for interference in our democratic processes,” he said, also committing to work with Congress on a new Russia sanctions bill.
Even before the statement was released, Pompeo was taking a tough line on Russia and defending the Trump-Putin meeting as he prepared for his Senate testimony.
In an interview transcript released ahead of the Crimea statement, Pompeo said Trump and Putin “didn’t find much place to agree” on Ukraine when they met in Finland last week.
In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in California, Pompeo acknowledged that he was not in the room when Trump and Putin met with only interpreters present for nearly two hours in the Finnish capital. But, he said he had a “good understanding” of what took place based on his presence at a larger meeting between the two sides as well as conversations with Trump and the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
“It was an incredibly constructive engagement for President Trump and President Putin, an important one for the world,” Pompeo said. “These are two nuclear superpowers. They ought to be engaged in conversations, and they covered a wide range of topics. They disagreed on many things but also set forward some constructive paths on important topics.”
Donald TrumpDonald Trump
Vladimir PutinVladimir Putin
US foreign policyUS foreign policy
RussiaRussia
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