Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with US National Security Adviser John Bolton during a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday. Photo: AFP / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with US National Security Adviser John Bolton during a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday. Photo: AFP / Alexander Zemlianichenko

US President Donald Trump, having consistently expressed a desire to improve ties with Moscow, will finally get a chance to have an official summit with his Russian counterpart.

Russian media reported on Wednesday that Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, agreed during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a specific place and time for the much-anticipated summit, though the details would not be released until Thursday.

According to Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, who spoke with the Russian Broadcasting Corporation, the meeting will take place in a third country to be disclosed when the meeting is formally announced.

During Bolton’s meeting at the Kremlin, the two countries discussed issues ranging from Syria and North Korea to the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, Ushakov said.

The conversation steered clear of the question of sanctions placed on Russia by the United States. Bolton, who is seen as a foreign-policy hawk, has been an outspoken supporter of Washington’s sanctions regime, which has targeted Russia for, among other things, the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

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