Presidents Putin and Trump Have Long Strategic Dialogue in Osaka

June 28, 2019 (EIRNS)—The Presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, met for 80 minutes in the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan. It was revealed that Putin invited Trump to Moscow for the May 9 Victory Day in 2020, the celebration of the 75th anniversary of victory in World War II. There was also a brief discussion between the two Presidents on their way to the G20 group picture taking.

In his opening remarks Trump said:

“Thank you very much, everybody. It’s a great honor to be with President Putin, his representatives, my representatives. We have many things to discuss, including trade, and including some disarmament, a little protectionism, perhaps, in a very positive way. We’re going to discuss a lot of different things. We’ve had great meetings, we’ve had a very, very good relationship, and we look forward to spending some very good time together. A lot of very positive things are going to come out of the relationship. So Vladimir, thank you very much.”

President Putin stated:

“I agree with Mr. President—we do have much to discuss, and have already outlined all the topics. We have not met for a long time, since the Helsinki meeting [July 16, 2018]. But our colleagues have been working, giving us a good opportunity to follow up on what we agreed in Helsinki, so thanks to both parties.”

When a journalist demanded, “Mr. President, will you tell Russia not to meddle in the 2020 election?” President Trump replied: “Yes, of course, I will.” He then turned to Putin, wagging his finger: “Don’t meddle in the election, President. Don’t meddle in the election.” Putin laughed, but the media are furious that Trump made fun of the fake “meddling” charge.