Putin, Trump to meet on July 7, says Kremlin (Lead)

Moscow July 4 (IANS) A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will take place on the sidelines of a G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg on July 7 the Kremlin announced on Tuesday.

(It s been) agreed for the seventh [of July] Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov was quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.

Putin s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told Tass news agency that it has been planned as a fully-fledged bilateral meeting rather than a brief on-the-go contact.

This contact on the sidelines of the G20 summit will be the first personal meeting between the two Presidents who have only spoken over the phone until now.

Ushakov said it would be a very important meeting and everybody has been waiting for it. He added that the meeting will be particularly important for ensuring global stability.

The White House assured that no formal agenda had been set out for the talks between the two heads of state though Trump was said to want to promote cooperation in dealing with the North Korean threat Syria or the campaign against the Islamic State terror organisation.

Trumps advisers refused to comment on whether he and Putin were scheduled to discuss alleged Russian involvement in the last US elections and the suspected connections between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign.

--IANS
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