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WASHINGTON – The White House rejected the initiative of Vladimir Putin to hold a referendum on the future of the region in the east of Ukraine. After the controversial summit of President Donald Trump with the Russian leader
the Russian ambbadador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said the two leaders had discussed the possibility of a referendum in the country. East of Ukraine. Garrett Marquis, spokesman for the Trump Security Council, said Friday that agreements between Russia and the Ukrainian government to resolve the conflict in the Donbbad region would include no option and no effort to hold a "referendum" "would have" no legitimacy ".
The back and forth came as the White House outlined the agenda of a second proposed summit between Trump and Putin – in Washington, this fa ll – which would put the government on the agenda. focus on national security. Moscow signaled its opening for a second formal meeting between the two leaders as Trump's critic on his first big session with his Russian counterpart maintained in the United States
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Trump left the White House for his golf club of New Jersey for the weekend. Once he arrived, he returned on Twitter to complain about Monday's meeting coverage
"I've been severely criticized by the Fake News media for being too kind to the president." Putin, "he tweeted. "In the old days, they call it diplomacy. If I was noisy and vicious, I would have been criticized for being too hard."
A White House official said that the next Trump-Putin meeting will address the national security concerns they discussed in Helsinki, including Russian interference. The official did not specify whether this meant Russia's interference in the US elections.
The official, who spoke anonymously to discuss planning, said the talks would also cover nuclear proliferation, North Korea, Iran and Syria. Putin's stop will definitely not make Capitol Hill.
House Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi urged House Speaker Paul Ryan to clarify that Putin would not be invited to address Congress when he visited Washington.
State Secretary Mike Pompeo had a more enlightened view of the likely second meeting.
He told the United Nations that he was "happy that the two leaders of two very important countries continue to meet: if this meeting is held in Washington, I think everything is for the better, these conversations are extremely important. "
It is not known if such a meeting would take place
A meeting of the White House would be a dramatic extension of the legitimacy of the Russian leader, long isolated by the West for its activities in Ukraine, Syria and beyond and would have interfered in the 2016 presidential election that sent Trump to the presidency.No Russian leader has visited the White House for nearly a decade.
US Officials discussed what the two leaders agreed to in Helsinki, during a two-hour face-to-face meeting, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said on Thursday that he had not yet been informed of the closed session
The Russian Government was a little more open
"This question (of a referendum) was discussed. Putin made "concrete proposals" to Trump on solutions for Russia 's four – year – old insurgency in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed more than 10,000 lives. He did not specify what would be Putin's solutions.
This initiative could be seen as an effort to circumvent European peace efforts in Ukraine and increase pressure on the Ukrainian government in its protracted conflict with pro-Russian separatists in the Donbbad region. As a sign of support for the Ukrainian government, the Pentagon announced on Friday that it would provide $ 200 million in additional training, equipment and advisory badistance to the Ukrainian military.
Trump tweeted Thursday that he was hoping for a "second meeting" with Putin and defended his performance at Monday's summit, during which the two leaders conferred on a range of issues, including terrorism, Israeli security, nuclear proliferation and North Korea
problems … but they can all be solved! Trump tweeted.
In Moscow, Antonov said that it is important to "manage the results" of the first summit before jumping too fast into a new high. But he said: "Russia was always open to such proposals. "
The White House is still trying to clean up Trump's post-summit statements on Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Trump's public doubt about Russia's responsibility in a Joint press conference with Putin on Monday provoked sharp criticism from Republicans and Democrats and forced the president to make a rare public admission of error.He disagrees with Putin's offer of allow the United States to interrogate 12 Russians accused of electoral interference in exchange for Russian talks with the former US ambbadador to Russia and other Americans accused of crimes not specified by the Kremlin In the beginning, Tru mp had described the idea as an "incredible offer".
The return of the White House came just before the Senate voted overwhelmingly against this idea.
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