BUENOS AIRES, Dec 2: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday he regretted missing out on an opportunity to have a comprehensive dialogue with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on the fringes of the G20 Summit.
It’s a pity we could not have a full-fledged meeting because I believe it is long overdue. I’m talking about issues of strategic stability in the light of the president’s announcement that he plans to pull the US from the INF treaty, Putin told reporters.
The president also said that he does not set any preconditions for a potential meeting with Trump. We do not set any preconditions, because the issues that we need to discuss are very important for us, and indeed for the rest of the world.
Because issues of strategic stability are of primary importance, given that they are immediately followed by issues of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, he clarified.
The two leaders had a brief on-the-go exchange at the summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It came after Trump abruptly canceled the full-fledged bilateral meeting with Putin on Thursday after receiving a report on the Kerch Strait incident, in which Russian border patrol detained Ukrainian Navy ships and sailors for illegally crossing the Russian water border.
Since that, Trump has however repeatedly said that he is looking forward to a meaningful summit again as soon as this situation around the incident has been resolved.
The Kremlin, in turn, has said that no conditions can be set for such a meeting, including those related to the Russian-Ukrainian relations, as both Moscow and Washington equally need these talks.
(AGENCIES)
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