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Vienna being discussed as host for Putin-Trump summit: Kremlin
MOSCOW, June 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed
during a visit to Austria this week the possibility of Vienna playing host to
a summit with his US counterpart Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
Peskov said Saturday.
“It was mentioned that Vienna could be such a city” Peskov was quoted as
saying by the RIA Novosti state news agency after being asked if Putin
mentioned whether the city could hold such a meeting when he met with
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Tuesday.
Peskov’s comments come a day after Trump called for Russia to be readmitted
to the group of the world’s leading nations, known as the G7, a step that
would end Russia’s international isolation over its 2014 annexation of Crimea
from Ukraine.
Speaking from China where Putin was attending a regional security summit,
Peskov said that in their last telephone conversation on March 20 the Russian
and US leaders had also mentioned possibly meeting in Vienna.
“You know, the two presidents discussed the necessity of holding such a
meeting in their last telephone call. Including that Vienna could be such a
city” for the summit, said Peskov.
He added, however, that no concrete agreements have been reached and no
concrete discussions were underway.
Under the conservative Kurz, Austria has strived to act as a mediator
between Russia and the West.
While the EU-state imposed sanctions on Russia over Crimea along with the
rest of the bloc, Austria did not expel Russian diplomats like other Western
nations following the March poisoning of a Russian former double agent and
his daughter in Britain, an attack London has accused Moscow of being behind.
“We have continued our cooperation even during difficult times,” Kurz said
after his talks with Putin on Tuesday.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1608 hrs