National Security Adviser John R. Bolton is headed to Moscow to discuss a possible meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the National Security Council announced Thursday.
National Security Council spokesman Garret Marquis announced the trip in a tweet:
“On June 25-27, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton will meet with U.S. allies in London and Rome to discuss national security issues, and travel to Moscow to discuss a potential meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin,” he wrote.
A possible meeting between the two presidents would likely take place next month, when Mr. Trump in in Europe for a NATO summit July 11 in Brussels and a July 13 visit to Britain.
By sitting down with Mr. Putin, the president would be bucking political convention and inviting criticism. Russia has increasingly made malicious moves on the world stage, from an nerve-agent assassination attempt on a former spy in England in March to interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to annexing Crimea in 2014.
However, Mr. Trump is accustomed to breaking with political norms, having met with North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un last week in Singapore to broker a denuclearization deal.
Mr. Trump said he wants to improve relations with Russia, including suggesting adding Russia back into the Group of Seven. Russia was kicked out to the then-G-8 over the annexation of Crimea and other interference in Ukraine.
Mr. Trump has championed U.S.-Russia relations despite special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Trump campaign collision with Moscow and Democrats’ unrelenting criticism of his pro-Russia stance.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin explored a possible meeting in a telephone conversation March 20.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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