Putin ready to meet with Trump in Washington or Moscow
By Peter Spinella,
Johannesburg - By Peter Spinella,- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he was willing to meet with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, in Washington or Moscow.
"We are ready to welcome President Trump to Moscow," Putin told reporters at a summit in South Africa, according to comments carried by Russian state news agency TASS.
"I am also ready to go to Washington, if there are some relevant working conditions there," Putin said, without giving further details.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Friday that Trump would consider a trip to Moscow once he has received a formal invitation and that he would welcome Putin "after the first of the year."
Putin and Trump, who first met last year at a summit in Hamburg, came together for a bilateral meeting last week in Helsinki.
Trump was widely criticized afterwards for accepting Putin's denial that the Russian government committed cyberattacks in an effort to influence the last US presidential election in Trump's favour.
The Helsinki meeting was overshadowed by the US indictment of 12 Russians on charges of hacking into computers of Hillary Clinton's campaign and other entities in an effort to influence the 2016 election.
Russia's ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, has dismissed the allegations as a politically motivated effort to victimize Russia as the US gears up for congressional elections in November.
"I am also ready to go to Washington, if there are some relevant working conditions there," Putin said, without giving further details.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Friday that Trump would consider a trip to Moscow once he has received a formal invitation and that he would welcome Putin "after the first of the year."
Putin and Trump, who first met last year at a summit in Hamburg, came together for a bilateral meeting last week in Helsinki.
Trump was widely criticized afterwards for accepting Putin's denial that the Russian government committed cyberattacks in an effort to influence the last US presidential election in Trump's favour.
The Helsinki meeting was overshadowed by the US indictment of 12 Russians on charges of hacking into computers of Hillary Clinton's campaign and other entities in an effort to influence the 2016 election.
Russia's ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, has dismissed the allegations as a politically motivated effort to victimize Russia as the US gears up for congressional elections in November.