A top Kremlin foreign affairs aide says the French government requested that President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump back away from plans to meet during their Paris visit.
Whether the U.S. and Russian presidents would meet on the sidelines of the ceremonies commemorating the end of World War I had been a subject of speculation in the lead-up to Sunday’s events.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, said on Russian state television that a preliminary agreement on a Trump-Putin meeting had been reached but was dropped after taking into account what he called French considerations. He said this decision was made in consultation with American officials.
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