Austria Prepares Putin-Trump Meeting for Vienna on July 15, Writes TASS

FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Austria Prepares Putin-Trump Meeting for Vienna on July 15, Writes TASS

June 24, 2018 (EIRNS)—Austria’s authorities are preparing to host a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, in Vienna on July 15, Austria’s Kronen Zeitung reported today, according to TASS. According to the newspaper’s sources, several days ago diplomatic representatives of Washington and Moscow arrived in the Austrian capital to discuss in detail holding the first bilateral summit between Russia and the United States, wrote the Russian news agency. Senior security officials from both countries have arrived in Austria to prepare for the meeting, and have started monitoring the situation to organize the talks.

The final decision on the summit’s date may be made in the middle of next week, the report said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday he was not ready to inform media about the venue and date for holding a possible Putin-Trump meeting, reported TASS. “We are not ready to provide this information,” Peskov said when asked to comment on the Austrian newspaper’s report. “We will inform you as soon as we are ready.”

Putin and Trump held a telephone conversation on March 20. According to the Kremlin press service, after the phone call the top Russian and U.S. diplomats were asked to explore the issue. On June 10, the Russian President confirmed he was ready to meet with Trump as soon as Washington was ready for the summit. On June 21, Peskov said, “Neither the Kremlin nor the White House has made any official statement” on a possible Putin-Trump meeting.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz confirmed in an interview with OE-24.TV that Vienna had offered to hold the Russian-U.S. summit.

“Both Presidents are ready to hold dialogue. We offered to hold the meeting in Vienna. Over the past years Vienna has been a good venue for dialogue and talks,”

Kurz said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had had a working visit to Austria on June 5, during which he had meetings with both President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Kurz.