U.S., Russia strike deal to hold Putin-Trump summit

Moscow and Washington havestruck a deal to hold a summit soon between Russian PresidentVladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, Kremlin foreignpolicy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Wednesday.

Ushakov, speaking after Putin held talks with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton in the Kremlin, said the summit would take place in a mutually convenient third country and that several more weeks were needed to prepare for it.

"This meeting has been planned for a long time," saidUshakov. "It has enormous importance for Russia and America, butit [also] has huge importance for the whole internationalsituation. I think it will be the main international event ofthe summer."

Such a summit is likely to irritate U.S. allies who want toisolate Putin, such as Britain, or who are concerned about Trump's attitude towardRussia. It is also likely to go downbadly among foreign and domestic critics who question Trump'scommitment to NATO and fret over his desire to rebuild ties withMoscow even as Washington tightens sanctions.

Ushakov said Moscow and Washington would announce the timeand place of the summit on Thursday. Further details have yet tobe worked out, he added.

NATO summit looms

The meeting is expected to take place after Trump attends aNATO summit and visits Britain next month. A senior U.S. official said on Tuesday that Finland's capital Helsinki wasbeing considered as a location.

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Bolton, a lifelong hawk who warned last year before his ownappointment that Washington negotiated with Putin's Russia atits peril, is due to give a news conference later Wednesday, wherehe may provide further details.

Trump congratulated Putin by phone in March after theRussian leader's landslide re-election victory and said the twowould meet soon.

Since then, already poor ties between Washington and Moscow have deteriorated further over the conflict in Syria and the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain thatsparked big diplomatic expulsions in both countries.

Washington and Moscow are also at odds over Ukraine andallegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, something Russia denies.

Low expectations

Expectations for the outcome of any Putin-Trump summit aretherefore low, even though Trump said before he was elected thathe wanted to improve battered U.S.-Russia ties.

A special prosecutor in the United States has indictedRussian firms and individuals for meddling in the presidential election to benefit Trump, and is investigating whether anyonein Trump's campaign helped the Russian effort. Trump denieswrongdoing and calls the investigation a "witch hunt."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said onthe weekend thatWashington was "trying to find places where we had overlappinginterests, but protecting American interest where we do not."

The United States initially sanctioned Russia over its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and its backing for a pro-Russian uprising in eastern Ukraine. Subsequent sanctions have punished Moscow for what Washington has called its malign behaviour and alleged meddling in U.S. politics.

Some Trump critics say Russia has not significantly alteredits behaviour since 2014 and should therefore not be given theprestige that they believe a summit would confer.