Moscow says it's open to having a Putin-Trump summit

A senior Russian diplomat says Moscow is open to having a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.

In this file photo from July 16, 2018, US President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive for a meeting in Helsinki, Finland. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says in remarks carried by the Interfax news agency that it’s important to have a meeting between the two world leaders.

They were going to hold talks when they attended a G-20 summit in Argentina a few weeks ago, but Trump abruptly canceled the meeting over a Russia-Ukraine naval standoff.

Ryabkov warns it would be a “deep mistake” to think Russia has a bigger interest than Washington in repairing bilateral ties.

Russia-US ties have sunk to their lowest levels since the Cold War due to Russian interference in Ukraine, the war in Syria and reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential vote.

— AP