Dmitry Peskov, the the Russian President’s press secretary, on Feb. 13 provided additional details on President Vladimir Putin’s phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump. “There is definitely a need to hold such a [summit] meeting fairly quickly,” Peskov said. “The heads of state have a lot to talk about, many topics on the agenda, which were briefly outlined yesterday during a telephone conversation. But for now, it is also impossible to talk about any dates, because the preparatory work will only begin in these days.”
When asked if the meeting would be held in Saudi Arabia, Peskov said the details of the meeting still needed to be worked out. “The heads of state agreed during a telephone conversation yesterday that they themselves would continue contacts,” he said, and that work will begin to determine the place and timeframe for the meeting.
He would not confirm whether Putin had invited Trump to attend the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War in Russia. He said that there were mutual invitations, but could give no specifics. “They exchanged mutual invitations, that is, now President Trump has a valid invitation to visit Russia, and the President of Russia has a valid invitation to visit the United States of America,” Peskov said. “I just want you to understand, in order to clarify: This exchange of mutual invitations is one thing, and the focus on a bilateral meeting is another; these are different processes,” Peskov said.
Peskov would not comment on whose initiative created the telephone conversation or whether it was actually the first since Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. “The previous U.S. administration held the view that everything must be done to ensure that the war continues. The current administration, as far as we understand, holds the view that everything must be done to stop the war and ensure that peace prevails. We are more impressed by the position of the current administration, and we are open to dialogue,” he said.
