Trump: Not to meet with Putin in Paris

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US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he will have lunch with Russian President Vladimir Putin among other leaders during his planned trip to Paris but no meeting was expected.

The two leaders will be in France on November 11 for events to mark the centenary of the end of World War I, which more than 60 heads of state and government are expected to attend.

US President Donald Trump points to a journalist during a post-election press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, November 7, 2018. /VCG Photo

"We will be having a lunch, but I'm sure many people will be there," said Trump at a press conference at the White House when asked if he will meet Putin in Paris, where over 60 leaders were expected to convene on Sunday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the World War I.

"I don't think we have anything scheduled in Paris," said Trump, explaining that he didn't think there would be time set for any meeting given his short stay there.

"We will very shortly meet again at the G20. And that's where we were actually looking forward to meet," Trump added.

Moscow claims a brief talk

Earlier in the day, however, Putin's Foreign Policy Adviser Yuri Ushakov said the pair had scheduled a brief conversation.

(L-R) Russian President Vladimir Putin, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin gather before a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. /VCG Photo

"It has been agreed that the leaders of the US and Russia will talk only briefly in Paris, it will be a standing meeting," he told Russian news agencies.

Ushakov said the prospect of a full meeting between the presidents had prompted huge international media interest, leading to concern from the French organizers this could overshadow the commemorations.

The pair were set for a more detailed discussion during the Group of 20 summit in Argentina at the end of the month, to be confirmed after Paris, Ushakov said.

Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton indicated during a trip to Moscow in October that the White House wanted a Paris meeting and Putin said he was interested.

A first bilateral summit between the two leaders took place in Helsinki in July.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a joint news conference after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. /VCG Photo

'No rush' in negotiating with DPRK

Trump said that he expected to meet with the DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un again "some time early next year," but insisted that the United States is "in no rush" after talks between his top diplomat and a senior DPRK envoy were postponed.

"We think it's going fine. We are in no rush," said Trump, commenting on current bilateral negotiations.

Trump's remarks came less than a day after the US State Department announced that a scheduled high-level meeting between the two sides has been postponed.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (R) walks with US President Donald Trump during a break in talks at their historic US-DPRK summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore, June 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

The expected Thursday meeting in New York between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee, "will now take place at a later date," Heather Nauert, the department spokesperson, said in a statement Wednesday.

(With inputs from agencies)