White House national security adviser John Bolton will travel to Moscow next week to speak with officials about a potential meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Bolton’s plans were confirmed by National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis on Thursday, just four days before he plans to head to London, Rome, and Moscow between June 25-27. The former ambassador to the United Nations is scheduled to discuss national security issues with U.S. allies before traveling to Russia to see if arrangements can be made for Putin to sit down with Trump.
The two leaders mentioned the possibility of a one-on-one meeting during a phone call in March, after which Trump drew criticism for congratulating Putin on his re-election. A senior White House official told the New York Times this month that preparations had begun for a meeting.
Trump has repeatedly said he hopes to improve U.S. relations with Moscow during his presidency because “getting along with Russia is a good thing.”
“Just about everybody agrees to that, except very stupid people, OK?” he said during an April press conference with the leaders of the Baltic states.
The president met with Putin on the sidelines of international summits, but the two leaders have yet to hold a bilateral summit on their own. White House officials are said to be eyeing a date in July, when Trump is already scheduled to travel to Europe for a NATO summit in Brussels and his first visit to Britain since becoming president.
