Trump and Putin spoke about future possible meetings

US President Donald Trump is open to a visit to Moscow after receiving an invitation from Russian leader Vladimir Putin, said on Friday, July 27, in the White House. The Trump administration also confirmed that the US president is waiting for the visit of his Russian colleague to Washington after January 1, 2019.

Earlier on the same day, Putin stated at a press conference following the Brix summit in Johannesburg that Trump was ready to invite in Moscow. “By the way, he has such an invitation, I told him about this,” said the President of Russia.

The first prolonged bilateral meeting of Trump and Putin took place on July 16 in Helsinki. Soon, Trump's spokesman said that the president instructed John Bolton to "invite President Putin to Washington in the fall." Bolton later said that the next bilateral meeting at the highest level should take place after the investigation of the possible intervention of Russia in the American elections.

In connection with the statements of Trump and Putin, comments appeared in the press about the advisability of such meetings. The former US permanent representative at the UN Bill Richardson made his remark on Friday in an interview with CNN. He recalled that the traditional "old school diplomacy" prepared the visits of leaders first at the level of foreign ministers, but "not at the level of tweets." The meeting in Helsinki was a “disaster” for Trump, according to an American diplomat who warns against a new similar result for the second time.