The Kremlin is pushing for Vladimir Putin to hold talks with President Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile in November, according to the Russian RIA news agency.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, reportedly said officials were working to make it happen, although nothing was scheduled yet.
The two leaders have met five times since Trump took power — amid intense scrutiny of their relationship after it emerged that the Kremlin had ordered an influence campaign of hacking and disinformation during the 2016 U.S. election.
Their most controversial meeting came in Helsinki last year, when they talked for two hours with only their translators present. Afterwards, Trump stood beside Putin at a news conference and said the Russian leader had made a “strong and powerful” denial that Moscow had meddled in the election.
The latest proposal comes as Trump’s interactions are being reviewed in the wake of a whistleblower complaint that the president used his position to ask the president of Ukraine to gather dirt on a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Moscow has already warned the White House against releasing transcripts of calls between the two leaders, saying that any such move would need the Kremlin’s approval.
