Putin, Trump to continue 'useful contacts': Kremlin aide

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Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have agreed to continue their "useful contacts" and may meet again by the end of the year, a Kremlin aide said Tuesday.

The announcement came as tensions in Washington rose over the direction of the US leader's Russia policy.

Last week's summit between Trump and Putin in the Finnish capital Helsinki unleashed political turmoil in the United States, with some critics accusing the US president of betraying America's interests.

Despite the furore Trump said he was looking forward to hosting Putin in Washington and the White House said such a meeting may come this fall.

Putin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said that, several days after the Helsinki meeting, the Kremlin received a US proposal to organize a new summit in Washington "at the end of the year".

The tweet by Jeff Flake, senator from Arizona, criticizing the meeting between Trump and Putin in Helsinki is just one of the many examples of the fierce criticism against Trump within the US. /Twitter Photo

"During their meeting in Helsinki, the presidents reached an understanding that these useful contacts should be continued," Ushakov told reporters.

He said the proposal had been passed on to the Russians by Trump's national security adviser John Bolton.

Ushakov said the two sides had not yet started work on organizing the Washington meeting. "Practical aspects will be discussed later," he added.

Bolton is set to meet with Russian officials in August but it was not clear so far where that meeting would take place, Ushakov said.

Putin and Trump may also meet on the sidelines of a G20 summit in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires in late November-early December, or at another international event, the adviser added.

Putin has slammed the US opposition to Trump as coming from "pathetic, worthless people" who are willing to sacrifice Russian-US ties for their own ambitions.

(Cover: 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)

Source(s): AFP