The Russian president “will be glad to meet” his American counterpart, Dmitry Peskov has said
Russian President Vladimir Putin is still ready and willing to host his US counterpart Donald Trump in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. The American leader has been actively engaged in diplomacy with Moscow over the Ukraine conflict but recently has drastically changed his rhetoric.
The White House has initiated numerous rounds of talks with Russian officials since Trump took office in January, which culminated in a summit with Putin in Alaska in mid-August. At that meeting, the Russian leader extended Trump an invitation to visit the Russian capital. Both men also described the summit positively, with Putin calling it “frank” and “substantive” and Trump hailing it as “productive.”
“This invitation still stands,” Peskov told TASS on Sunday when asked whether Moscow’s position had changed. “Putin is ready and will be glad to meet President Trump. It will then all depend on Trump’s decision.”
For months, Washington insisted that Kiev would need to give up on certain territorial claims for a US-mediated peace deal to move forward. This week however, Trump made a U-turn, claiming that Kiev could defeat Russia and calling Moscow a “paper tiger.”
Peskov had earlier responded to Trump’s remarks by insisting that Russia has traditionally been seen as a bear and that there is “no such thing as a paper bear.” He also dismissed Trump’s claims about the Russian economy by stating that it had adapted to the ongoing conflict and unprecedented Western sanctions even if it does face certain “problems.”
The Kremlin spokesman still maintained that Putin “highly values” Trump’s efforts to mediate, while describing their relationship as “warm.”
Speaking at the White House earlier this week, Trump stated he would not describe Russia as a “paper tiger” again and was not willing to use the term against “anybody” at all.
