Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shared smiles and a handshake Friday at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires.
After heads of state gathered for a family photo, the two leaders exchanged pleasantries before they sat down next to one another.
Video of the exchange showed other leaders walking into the room, including President Trump.
Putin and MBS greet each other with huge smiles and handshake in Buenos Aires pic.twitter.com/2jlHUfONO1
— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) November 30, 2018
The visual display of amity came after Trump canceled a meeting with Putin at the summit in the Argentine capital in protest of the Russian military’s recent seizure of Ukrainian ships and sailors. Trump axed the meeting shortly after his former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a planned Trump hotel in Moscow, but the White House denies this was the reason for the cancellation.
The G-20 summit also provides Trump an opportunity to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed for the first time since the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. The CIA has reportedly determined with high confidence that the royal was involved in ordering the killing, but Trump has cast doubt on his agency’s findings in favor of the crown prince’s denials. Trump told reporters before departing Washington for Buenos Aires that he “would have met with” the crown prince, but such a meeting wasn’t set up. “We just didn’t have time,” he said.
Still, Simon Henderson, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he would be “astonished” if Trump and the crown prince did not meet at the confab, likely for informal talks or a photo opportunity, the Washington Examiner previously reported.
