Trump, Putin briefly talk during opening photo at Asia-Pacific summit
Story highlights
- Trump and Putin will not formally meet in Vietnam
- The prospect of the meeting hung over the rest of Trump's Asia trip
Da Nang, Vietnam (CNN)President Donald Trump
and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not hold a formal meeting at
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit here in Vietnam, White
House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One
on Friday.
But the
two world leaders did briefly meet during the so-called APEC class
photo, where all the heads of state come together to take a photo before
the summit officially starts. Trump and Putin shook hands and had a
briefly spoke before the photo was snapped.
The
two leaders, both wearing an oversized, blue traditional-style
Vietnamese shirt provided by the host country, stood next to one another
for the picture.
Citing
"scheduling conflicts on both sides," though, Sanders said no formal
meeting will take place during the two-day gathering, but that an
informal interaction between the two world leaders was likely to happen,
a notion reinforced by her Russian counterparts.
"Regarding
a Putin meeting, there was never a meeting confirmed, and there will
not be one that takes place due to scheduling conflicts on both sides,"
Sanders said. "There is no formal meeting or anything scheduled for
them."
She
added: "Now, they're going to be in the same place. Are they going to
bump into each other and say hello? Certainly possible, and likely. But
in terms of a scheduled, formal meeting, there's not one on the calendar
and we don't anticipate that there will be one."
Sanders'
statement contradicts what the Russian side told reporters for the last
two days, adding to the drama around how Trump and Putin will interact
at the international summit.
"The
meeting will take place on the sidelines," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
said after Sanders' statement, adding that some encounter will take
place "one way or another."
Both
the US and Russian sides appeared to indicate, however, that the two
world leaders are likely to converse in some way during the two-day
gathering.
The possibility of a
Trump and Putin meeting has hung over the economic summit, with any
interaction -- formal or informal -- threatening to overshadow the
President's lengthy trip through Asia.
The
possible interaction would come amid a series of investigations into
Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, an issue that has plagued the
Trump administration for months. In a recent swirl of action, special
counsel Robert Mueller's investigation issued his first indictments last
week, bringing charges against former top Trump campaign aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, who have pleaded not guilty.
Trump has long denied any collusion between his campaign and Russian operatives during the 2016 election. But US intelligence agencies concluded in a report released earlier this year that Russia ordered an "influence campaign" to harm Hillary Clinton's chances of winning the election.
The
delicateness of the Putin-Trump meeting was laid bare on Thursday --
before Sanders' statement -- when the two sides gave dramatically
different accounts on whether the two leaders would even meet in the
first place.
Russian presidential
aide Yuri Ushakov told state-run news organization Itar Tass that Putin
and Trump would meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit on
Friday, adding that the two sides had already agreed to the time and
place.
While briefing reporters in
China, though, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declined to say whether
Putin and Trump would meet in Vietnam, telling reporters that officials
are working to determine whether the two world leaders have sufficient
areas of substance to discuss.
"When the two leaders meet, is there something sufficiently substantive?" Tillerson said. "No conclusion has been made on that."
Given
the intense focus on any interactions between Trump, his associates and
Russian operatives, the meeting -- particularly what is said and not
said -- could overshadow the focus of Trump's trip to Vietnam, where the
President is set to discuss business, trade and security with an array
of Asian leaders.
One cause for concern on the American side is how Trump and Putin's first meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany
caused a diplomatic dust-up over whether Trump accepted Putin's
assurances there was no Russian involvement in the 2016 American
election.
Trump opened his first
sessions with Putin by "raising the concerns of the American people
regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election," Tillerson told
reporters after the bilateral meeting. "The President pressed President
Putin on more than one occasion regarding Russian involvement. President
Putin denied such involvement, as I think he has in the past."
Tillerson
didn't say whether Trump accepted his denial. But while Tillerson was
briefing US media, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters
that Trump accepted Putin's denial.
The
charge was immediately denied by a senior Trump administration
official, but the turnabout signaled that any diplomatic engagement
between the two countries would be complicated and fraught.
Aboard
Air Force One as he kicked off his five-country, 13-day trip throughout
Asia, Trump told reporters that he "expected" to meet with Putin on the
visit because the United States hopes to enlist Russia in the fight
against North Korea.
"We want Putin's help on North Korea," he said.
The
first half of Trump's trip through Asia has primarily focused on how to
deal with the rogue nation. Trump gave a direct and bellicose speech in
South Korea about Pyongyang, at one point speaking directly to North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"North Korea is not the paradise your grandfather envisioned," he said. "It is a hell that no person deserves."
Trump
will continue to focus on North Korea in Vietnam, senior White House
officials tell CNN, but his time at the summit will primarily focus on
free trade.
"The President's
engagements at APEC will reinforce the US commitment to an equitable,
sustainable and rules-based international economic system based on
market principles," one official said.
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