Trump, Putin to hold first meeting next week in Germany

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week at a summit in Germany that brings two world leaders whose political fortunes have become intertwined face-to-face for the first time, Reuters said.

Both the Kremlin and the White House announced on Thursday, June 29 that the pair will meet on the sidelines of the July 7-8 summit of G20 nations in Hamburg.

Trump's national security adviser H.R. McMaster downplayed the significance of the meeting, one of nine such side meetings for the U.S. president over two days.

"It won't be different from our discussions with any other country, really," McMaster said.

"There's no specific agenda. It's really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about."

The meeting will be fraught with difficulties for Trump.

Allegations that Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential election last year and colluded with the Republican's campaign have overshadowed the businessman's unexpected victory and dogged his first five months in office.

Russia and the United States are also at odds over Ukraine, NATO expansion and the civil war in Syria where Moscow supports President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States backs rebel groups trying to overthrow Assad, and Washington angered Russia by launching missile strikes against a Syrian government air base in April in response to what the United States says was a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians.