Trump to discuss Syria, Ukraine with Putin

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump told reporters he planned to discuss the situation in Syria and Ukraine, as well as Russia’s alleged meddling in the US presidential vote with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during their upcoming meeting.

“We’re going to be talking about Ukraine, we’re going to be talking about Syria, we’re going to be talking about elections. We don’t want anybody tampering with elections. We’ll be talking about world events. We’ll be talking about peace,” he told reporters on board the presidential plane on the way to New Jersey.

“We may even talk about saving millions of dollars on weapons,” he continued. “Perhaps the world can deescalate, with China, Russia... maybe the world can somewhat deescalate. That would not be a bad thing. But I think having a relationship with China, Russia... it’s a good thing.”

When asked whether he planned to lift anti-Russian sanctions, Trump replied: “We’ll see what Russia does. We’re going to be talking to Russia about a lot of things.” The US president said he may also raise the issue of Crimea’s reunification with Russia in 2014.

“We might be talking about some things President Obama lost… Don’t forget, President Obama gave up Crimea,” he said. “President Obama allowed that to happen.” Asked if the US would recognize Russia’s claim on Crimea, he said: “We’re going to have to see.”

On June 15, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, commenting on media reports alleging that US President Donald Trump said Crimea was Russian at the G7 summit, that the Crimean issue was closed for Russia.