President Trump on Tuesday said the future of his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin remains uncertain, despite recently offering to host the Russian leader at the White House for an extended bilateral summit.
“I think I could have a very good relationship with President Putin,” Trump said during a quadrilateral press conference with the leaders of the Baltic states.
The president cautioned that it’s also “possible” his current relationship with Putin will sour. He told reporters earlier Tuesday that he plans to determine soon whether his Russian counterpart will be a friend or foe to the U.S.
“We’ll find out. I’ll let you know. There will be a time when I’ll let you know,” Trump had said. “You’re going to find out very quickly.”
Trump’s comments come a day after aides confirmed that he and Putin discussed a meeting this year at a number of different venues, including the White House, which the Russian president has not visited since 2005. His overture to Putin was made after the U.S. backed the British government’s conclusion that Moscow was behind the poisoning of a former Russian spy in London earlier this month.
The Trump administration announced last week that it planned to expel 60 Russian diplomats from the U.S. over the incident in London, joining allies that took similar courses of action.
