Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to Hold Summit in ‘Third Country’ in July

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will meet next month in a "third country," perhaps Finland or Austria, officials in both countries announced on Wednesday.

"I can say that we have reached an agreement to hold a summit, we have even agreed on the time and the place of the meeting, and we will announce this obviously with our American colleagues tomorrow," Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow.

Ushakov said that several more weeks were needed for preparations. "This meeting has been planned for a long time," Ushakov told reporters. "It has enormous importance for Russia and America, but it [also] has huge importance for the whole international situation. I think it will be the main international event of the summer."

The U.S. president is scheduled to attend a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit next month in Brussels and is also planning to visit the U.K. He has met Putin twice previously – on the sidelines of international conferences but has yet to take part in a formal summit meeting with the Russian leader.

Ushakov’s announcement came after Putin held talks with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton in the Kremlin, who is in Moscow in advance of an expected meeting between Putin and Trump in mid-July. "Your visit here to Moscow inspires hope that we will be able to take first steps to restore full-fledged relations between Russia and the United States," Putin told Bolton.

For his part, Bolton said that "direct contact between Trump and Putin is in the US national interest." "There are a wide range of issues, despite the differences between us, where both President Trump and President Putin think they may be able to find constructive solutions," he said.

"I'd like to hear someone say that's a bad idea."

In addition to planning the Trump summit, Putin and Bolton discussed Russian involvement in Ukraine, the Syria civil war and efforts to denuclearize North Korea, all of which are expected to be subjects at the summit, officials said.

This would be the first such summit between the two leaders after Russia's general elections which Vladimir Putin won comfortably. The elections were called anything but fair as credible opposition leaders have either fled the country or been jailed.

The announcement of this summit is sure to raise eyebrows in the U.S. and abroad for multiple reasons – U.S. President Donald Trump is being investigated by a special counsel for alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 Presidential elections and the Trump Administration has placed sanctions on Russia for multiple cyberattacks on the country’s key infrastructure. U.S.’s close ally the UK has also been the target of Russia as a former double agent was attacked with a nerve agent in the town of Salisbury just months ago which has led the UK to crack down on Russian connections in the country. The U.S. and Russia are also on opposing sides in Syria and there have been multiple reports that independent Russian contract soldiers have tried to attack bases which are commandeered by U.S. Special forces.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 28, 2018 07:19 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).