Trump Says He’s ‘Probably Not’ Meeting Putin in Paris This Weekend

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he is “probably not” meeting Vladimir Putin in Paris this weekend but does expect to meet the Russian president at a summit in Argentina at the end of November.

“I’m not sure that we’ll have a meeting in Paris -- probably not,” Trump told reporters Monday at Joint Base Andrews. “But we will be meeting at the G-20. And probably we’ll have a meeting after that. Probably plenty of meetings.”

Trump’s announcement reverses public statements from both U.S. and Russian officials saying the two leaders planned to meet during an international celebration in Paris this weekend of the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War I. Trump didn’t give a reason for the change in plans other than to say he’s “going to be in Paris for other reasons.”

Putin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Friday the Russian leader expected to have a “brief” meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the Paris celebration, followed by a longer session between the two leaders at Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires at the end of the month. U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said after he met with Putin in Moscow Oct. 23 that the two leaders planned “a normal, bilateral meeting” in Paris.

The leaders last met at a summit in Helsinki July 16 and the U.S. president’s apparent acceptance of Putin’s assurances that Russia hadn’t meddled in the American elections drew intense criticism in Washington.

--With assistance from Alyza Sebenius.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Toluse Olorunnipa in Washington at tolorunnipa@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Mike Dorning, Bill Faries

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