Moscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Kremlin stated on Monday that a gathering between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is possible if both presidents are in Beijing simultaneously in September.
How many times have Trump and Putin spoken recently?What happened at the last Trump-Putin summit in 2018?
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin would attend events in China commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two. However, he mentioned that Moscow has not received any information about whether Trump plans to attend. Last week, The Times reported that China was positioning itself to facilitate a summit between Trump and Putin.
“You know that we are preparing for a trip to Beijing. Our president is preparing for this trip… But we have not heard that President Trump is also going there, to Beijing,”
Peskov said when asked if the two leaders could meet, including possibly in a three-way format with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“If it so happens that (Trump) is there, then, of course, we cannot rule out that the question of the expediency of holding a meeting will be raised,”
Peskov told reporters.
How many times have Trump and Putin spoken recently?
Since Trump reassumed the presidency in January, he and Putin have communicated at least six times. The Kremlin has shown support for a direct meeting but stressed that it must be carefully organised to be effective.
The last publicly confirmed telephonic call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin took place on July 3, 2025. This roughly hour-long conversation was the sixth known call between the two leaders since Trump returned to office in January 2025. During the call, Trump said he made no progress toward a ceasefire in Ukraine and expressed his disappointment over the continuation of the war.
Why is Trump frustrated with Putin over the Ukraine war?
Trump has shown increasing frustration with the Russian leader due to slow progress in ending the Ukraine war, stating earlier this month that
“we get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin.”
Last week, Trump announced he would impose new sanctions on Russia and its export buyers within 50 days unless Moscow agrees to a peace agreement. This deadline will pass in early September, aligning with the anniversary events of the war in Beijing.
What happened at the last Trump-Putin summit in 2018?
The last face-to-face meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin was held at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, 2018. This meeting was eagerly awaited and was intended to improve bilateral relations and talk about North Korea, nuclear proliferation, and alleged election interference.
After the meeting, Trump is quoted as saying this meeting improved U.S.-Russia relations significantly, although that context was somewhat undermined given the investigations into Russian involvement with the 2016 U.S. election were ongoing at the time.
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