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WASHINGTON (AP) – Rarely has an RSVP been so complicated.
President Donald Trump is open in Moscow – he receives an official invitation from Vladimir Putin, the White House said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready for a trip to Washington, but his response came only after Trump retracted his invitation to an autumn appointment.
The last round of drama at the top of the two leaders first controversial encounter in Helsinki this month. He emphasizes Trump's eagerness to forge a warmer relationship with Putin, although the Russian does not seem to share the urgency and Trump's allies in Washington are looking at it in frustration.
Trump's yes to a trip to Moscow comes just as lawmakers detail what he and Putin discussed in Helsinki. The president has been widely criticized for not publicly denouncing Russia's interference in the 2016 US elections and seeming to accept Putin's denials of the activity.
Trump's response to critics – a sharply announced invitation for a second meeting in Washington in the fall – received a frosty reception from Republicans in Congress facing tough elections in November. National Security Advisor John Bolton said Wednesday that plans for an autumn visit would be delayed until 2019. He cited the investigation of Special Advisor Robert Mueller on the interference Russian election as a reason, using Trump's favorite.
But the possibility of a Trump trip to Moscow emerged Friday after Putin said he was ready to invite Trump – or to visit Washington if conditions were met.
"I understand very well, what President Trump said: He has the wish to conduct other meetings," Putin said during a trip to Johannesburg. I am ready to invite President Trump to Moscow, he has an invitation, I told him that I am ready to go to Washington, but I repeat, if the conditions are right.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded that Trump "looks forward to President Putin in Washington after the first of the year, and that he is open in Moscow. after receiving a reciprocal formal invitation.
But it's just a discussion at this stage
This is part of a "power game between Putin and Trump," said Dr. Alina Polyakova of the Brookings Institution. She said the Kremlin led the whole process in Helsinki, and "we are still seeing it now."
Trump is not very strong because "the summit in Helsinki was a fiasco," said James Goldgeier of the Council. A visit of Putin to Washington from here to January "could have a lot of poor optics," he said, and "it is really hard to see the" back of a trip from Trump to Moscow
. Trump's show in the Russian capital – the site of unproven salacious allegations in an anti-Trump case compiled by a former British spy – was likely to raise concerns and concerns over the Capitol.
Two days earlier, political lawmakers The parties unsuccessfully asked for details about the state secretary Mike Pompeo's meeting in Helsinki, which blocked almost all of these investigations at a public meeting. contentious hearing arguing that the President has the right to private conversations
k return at least some of his comments. And Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that despite Trump's public statements that the allegations of Russian interference are "a hoax", he agrees that Russia has meddled in the 2016 elections.
Trump met Friday with his national security team to discuss the 2018 mid-term congressional election threats, the first such session, he summoned warnings from intelligence officials that Russia is once again planning to Interfering in the American democratic process.
The White House issued a statement saying that Trump tolerate foreign interference in our elections from any state of nation or other malicious actors. "
Republican lawmakers have made it clear that they are not eager to see Putin, who was informed of the 2016
Putin's interference" will not be welcome "at the Capitol, has Chief of the Senatorial Majority Mitch McConnell (19659007) told reporters that Republican leaders are increasingly relying on public signals, rather than private phone calls or oval conversations, to attract the public. beware of the White House and communicate with Trump – especially Paul Ryan says these invitations are reserved for allies.
Ryan said he did not speak to the president in the days following the Helsinki summit
Moscow described his tensions with Washington as a result of Trump's obstruction with domestic political disputes and widespread "Russophobia" perpetrated by the Obama hold-ups – echoing the p Trump's delight to accuse his predecessor of many problems.
Saying that he wants to go to Washington if the conditions are "appropriate". this position and is actually putting pressure on Trump to try to eradicate the opposition. His invitation for Trump to come to Moscow – whether the invitation was formally presented or only in the spirit – also seems to be putting pressure on Trump to show if he is bold enough and disruptive enough to criticize the critics. intense at home.
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PA writers Ken Thomas, Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville in Washington DC and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report
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