Russia, U.S. disagree over Putin, Trump meet

Tillerson says no decision taken yet

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives to Pakistan's Nur Khan military airbase in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Tuesday.

Russia and the U.S. disagreed on Thursday over whether U.S. President Donald Trump plans to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told Russian news agencies that the meeting “will be on November 10”, with the exact time still being discussed.

But in comments in Beijing, where Mr. Trump is on a state visit, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said no decision had been taken on a potential meeting.

“There has never been an agreement, certainly not to a formal bilat,” or bilateral encounter, Mr. Tillerson said, adding that the “question is whether we have got sufficient substance” to talk about. “If we’re going to have a meeting, let’s make sure it’s a meaningful meeting,” he said, mentioning the discussions on the situations in Syria and Ukraine.

APEC summit

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said talks about the time, place and format of the meeting were continuing. “We hope that in the nearest future, these plans will be confirmed and we will be able to inform you,” he told journalists.

“The two Presidents will have the possibility to speak on the sidelines of the APEC summit several times in any case,” he added.