Trump, Putin to come face-to-face at G20

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The White House said on Thursday US President Donald Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time next week at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster made the announcement at a White House briefing, adding that "there is no specific agenda. It's really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about."

One of the goals of the president's trip, McMaster said, will be "to develop a common approach to Russia." But Trump also made clear that the US will do what is necessary to "confront Russia's destabilizing behavior," the Trump's top aide added.

The Group of 20 summit will take place on July 7 and 8.

Opposition fighters fire a heavy machine gun during clashes with government forces for the control of the city of al-Baath in Syria's southwestern Quneitra province on June 28, 2017. /VCG Photo

The first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders will come amid tensions between the US and Russia as the two countries hold differences on a slew of issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Ukrainian crisis and the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In April, Trump said the US was "not getting along with Russia at all" and the relations between the two countries "may be at an all-time low."

US President Donald Trump meets Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House in Washington D.C., US on May 10, 2017. /VCG Photo

Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington in mid-May, Trump expressed his desire to build a better relationship between the two countries.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US is working to stabilize its relationship with Russia, which is "at an all-time low."

"Our relationship is at an all-time low, and it's been deteriorating further. Our objective is to stabilize that," Tillerson told lawmakers at a Senate hearing.

(Source: Xinhua, AFP)