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WASHINGTON – Rarely a RSVP was 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 summit 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 seemingly accepting Putin's denials of the activity.
Trump's response to criticism – a sharply announced invitation for a second meeting in Washington in the fall – received a chilling reception from Republicans in Congress facing tough elections in November. National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Wednesday that plans for an autumn visit would be delayed until 2019. He cited as a reason the investigation of Special Adviser Robert Mueller on the issue. Russian electoral interference, using Trump's favorite. 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 are right.
"I understand very well.Well, what President Trump said: He has the wish to conduct other meetings," Putin said during a trip to Johannesburg. "I'm ready for that, we're ready to invite President Trump to Moscow, by the way, he has such an invitation, I told him that, I'm ready to go to Washington, but, I repeat, if the conditions appropriate working conditions are created. "
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, press secretary for the White House, responded that Trump" looks forward to President Putin in Washington after the first He is open in Moscow receiving a formal reciprocal invitation. "
But it's just a discussion at this point.
This is part of a "power play between Putin and Trump," said Dr. Alina Polyakova of the Brookings Institution. She said that the Kremlin led the whole process in Helsinki, and "we still see it today."
Trump is not very strong because "the summit of Helsinki has been such 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 end". 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 cause concern and concern over the Capitol
Earlier days, political legislators The parties unsuccessfully requested details of the Helsinki meeting to state secretary Mike Pompeo, who blocked nearly all of these investigations during a contentious hearing by backing that the president has the right to private conversations.
Since Helsinki, Tr L & # 39; ump has tried to come back at least on 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 mingled with 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 nation-state or other malicious actors.
Republican lawmakers made it clear that they are not eager to see Putin, who was informed of the 2016
Putin's "interference will not be welcome" on Capitol Hill, told reporters Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. 24] Speaker Paul Ryan said such invitations were reserved for allies.
Republican leaders seem to be increasingly relying on public signals rather than private telephone calls or oval conversations. Trump – especially when they disagree with the approach or policies of the president
Ryan said that he was not talking to the president in the days following the Helsinki summit [19659023] Moscow described his tensions with Washington as a result of Trump's being hindered by domestic political disputes and widespread "Russophobia" perpetrated by Obama-era hold-ups – echoing Trump's penchant for accusing his predecessor of many problems.
Saying he's ready to go to Washington if the conditions are appropriate. "Putin underlines this position and is actually putting pressure on Trump to try to eradicate opposition." His invitation for Trump to come to Moscow – whether the invitation was formally handed over or whether it was only in the Mind – also seems to be putting pressure on Trump to show if he is sufficiently daring and disruptive to severely criticize him
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AP writers Ken Thomas, Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville in Washington and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press All rights reserved, this document can not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
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