US President Donald Trump had a second undisclosed meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of G20 summit in Germany early this month, according to media reports.
The White House has confirmed that the two leaders spoke during the G20 dinner, but said it is incorrect to describe it as the second meeting.
“There was no “second meeting” between President Trump and President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner. The insinuation that the White House has tried to “hide” a second meeting is false, malicious and absurd,” the White House said last night after various media reports came about the second meeting.
The meeting lasted for about an hour and was in addition to the two and half hour meeting the two leaders had as part of the structured dialogue, the media reports claimed.
“It is not merely perfectly normal, it is part of a President’s duties, to interact with world leaders. Throughout the G20 and in all his other foreign engagements, President Trump has demonstrated American leadership by representing our interests and values on the world stage,” the White House said in support of the meeting.
The White House said during the night of the G20 summit, there was, first, a concert for all the leaders in the new Hamburg opera house. The leaders were all photographed by the press in before going inside. later that night, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted a dinner for leaders and spouses only, and the German Government set the seating arrangements, it said.
The concert and dinner were publicly announced on both the President’s schedule and the G20 schedule, with the clear understanding that all visiting leaders would be present, it added.