MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin thanked Slovenia on Friday for offering to host his first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, but added that the decision hinges on Washington.
Putin hailed Slovenia, where Trump’s wife Melania was born and reared, as an “excellent” venue for talks. “It depends not only on us, but we are naturally ready for it,” he said.
Speaking after talks at the Kremlin with his Slovenian counterpart, Borut Pahor, Putin said Russia welcomes Trump’s statements about his intentions to restore the strained Russia-U.S. ties.
“We always welcomed that and we hope that relations will be restored in full in all areas,” Putin said. “It relates to trade and economic ties, security issues and various regions of the world, which are suffering from numerous conflicts. By pooling our efforts, we naturally would be able to significantly contribute to solving those issues, including the fight against international terrorism.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he’s looking forward to an opportunity to talk to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Germany, where they both will attend a security conference and a meeting of the G-20 foreign ministers next week. Lavrov told NTV television that Putin and Trump agreed they need to meet soon in their Jan. 28 phone call and told diplomats to negotiate the details.
In recent years, Russia-U.S. relations have plunged to post-Cold war lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and the allegations of Russia hacking of the Democrats in the U.S. presidential election.
In 2001, Slovenia hosted Putin’s first meeting with former U.S. President George W. Bush; it led to a short-lived thaw in relations between Moscow and Washington. A similarly short warm spell early in Barack Obama’s presidency gave way to new tensions.
Speaking in a conference call with reporters, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov pointed to a “certain break in dialogue on strategic security issues” during the Obama administration, and said Moscow and Washington now need “an update of information and positions.”
Nuclear similarities
In December, Trump tweeted that the U.S. should “greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability” until the rest of the world “comes to its senses” regarding nuclear weapons.
Putin also has said strengthening Russia’s nuclear capabilities is among the nation’s priorities.
Kislyak voiced hope that joint efforts to fight the IS could help break the ice in Russia-U.S. ties. “If we have serious cooperation, it could help to start rebuilding trust,” he told Russian media.
