The Kremlin on Monday said Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump can discuss “all other issues” except Crimea, the peninsula Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, at their first summit this month.
Putin has “repeatedly stated and explained that Crimea cannot be and will never be on the agenda because it is an inseparable part of Russia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“All other issues are ones of consensus, discussion and finding possible points of contact,” he added.
Peskov also said while Moscow and Washington “differ” on “many” issues, “political will has prevailed and understanding is growing.”
On Saturday, Trump refused to rule out accepting Russia’s annexation of Crimea when he meets Putin for a first one-on-one summit of the two leaders in Helsinki on July 16.