08/16/20
Trump eyes Putin meeting before November election, say four people familiar with discussions
By Carol E. Lee and Courtney Kube
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has told aides he'd like to hold an in-person meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the November election, according to four people familiar with the discussions.
Administration officials have explored various times and locations for another Trump-Putin summit, including potentially next month in New York, these people said.
The goal of a summit would be for the two leaders to announce progress towards a new nuclear arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia, the people familiar with the discussions said. One option under consideration is for the two leaders to sign a blueprint for a way forward in negotiations on extending New START, a nuclear arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia that expires next year, three of the people familiar with the discussions said.
They said Trump sees a summit as an opportunity to be presidential and demonstrate he's able to negotiate agreements.
"He wants it to show his deal-maker abilities," one of them said. "It's just a big stage."
A White House official said the president's team plans to have him hold more meetings with world leaders in the weeks leading up to the election.
A Kremlin spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The State Department announced Friday that the U.S. special envoy for arms control, Marshall Billingslea, plans to meet with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov in Vienna on Monday in the next round of negotiations between the U.S. and Russia on an arms control agreement.
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