G20 Summit 2018: All the latest updates US president calls off scheduled G20 meeting citing Russia's seizure of Ukrainian vessels. 29 Nov 2018 18:44 GMT Nineteen leaders of the world's biggest economies and a representative of the European Union are set to meet on Friday and Saturday in Buenos Aries, Argentina as part of the Group of 20 summit. This year, all eyes will be on a range of issues, including a high-stakes meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and the potential signing of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 's appearance at the summit is expected to cause some protests over the murder of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. Other demonstrations are also expected in the lead-up to the annual meeting. Here are all the latest updates: Thursday, November 29 Trump's meeting with leaders of Turkey, South Korea will be 'pull asides' US President Donald Trump's meetings with the leaders of Turkey and South Korea will be "pull asides" at the Group of 20 summit rather than formal bilateral meetings, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters Trump decided to cancel Putin meeting 'while on flight to G20' White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Thursday told reporters US President Donald Trump decided to cancel a scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his flight to the G20 summit, and said she was not aware of a conversation between the two leaders about the cancellation. Trump spoke with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House Chief of Staff Kelly on the flight to the Group of 20 industrialised nations summit in Argentina and called National Security Adviser John Bolton, she said. Sanders also said the US and Russian governments had exchanged phone calls. Trump cancels meeting with Putin over situation in Ukraine Trump said on Thursday he is cancelling his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin due to the situation in Ukraine. The pair had expected to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2018 Trump said he is looking forward to a summit with the Russian president once the Ukraine situation is resolved. Responding to Trump's comments, a spokesperson for Putin said Moscow had recieved no official information on the cancellation of the talks. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader would have a couple of extra hours spare for other meetings if the sit-down with Trump didn't take place, Russian state media outlets reported. Macron to meet with MBS French President Emmanuel Macron has said he will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of this weekend's G20 summit, according to the Reuters news agency. "I've always been very clear about the issue of Saudi Arabia and I will inevitably have the opportunity to discuss it with the Saudi crown prince on the sidelines of the G20," Macron told reporters on Thursday. The French leader's comments came after Argentine President Mauricio Macri said there could be discussions about complaints against MBS during the summit, which is being held in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. The G20 includes: Argentina Australia Brazil Canada China Germany France India Indonesia Italy Japan Mexico Russia Saudi Arabia South Africa South Korea Turkey United Kingdom United States European Union The 33-year-old de facto ruler of Saudi has been under intense scrutiny following the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom's consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul last month. Trump says no meeting planned with MBS at G20 As Trump left the White House for the G20 summit in Argentina, the US president said he would have been willing to meet with Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but no such meeting was set up. Trump says he's close to doing something with China on trade US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was close to making a deal with China on trade but is not sure he wants to do it and likes where things stand now. As he left the White House for the G20 summit in Argentina and a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump told reporters he was open to making a trade deal. Kremlin confirms Putin-Trump meet The Kremlin has announced it has received confirmation from Washington, DC, that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump will take place on the sidelines of this weekend's G20 summit. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that the two leaders will hold a "conversation" on Saturday, which will be followed by longer negotiations. The US had threatened to cancel the face-to-face talks because of an ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine following the former's seizure of three of the latter's ships in waters near the Crimean peninsula on Sunday. Merkel to press Putin over Ukraine tensions German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she will press Russian President Vladimir Putin at this weekend's G20 summit over the country's ongoing dispute with Ukraine. Tensions between Kiev and Moscow have been heightened in recent days following the latter's seizure of three Ukrainian ships on Sunday in waters near the Crimean peninsula. Addressing a Ukrainian business summit in Berlin on Thursday, Merkel said the situation could only be resolved through "talks" as there was "no military solution". "I'm for putting the facts of what we know so far on the table and (ask) that all soldiers get released and also that one doesn't force confessions like we've seen on television recently," she said, referring to appearances by some of the captured Ukrainians on Russian state television earlier this week. Russia's FSB security service released video footage on Tuesday of some of the captured Ukrainian sailors admitting that their actions had been deliberately provocative and that they had ignored Russian orders to stop moving through the Russian-controlled Kerch Strait. Kiev contends the individuals were forced to lie under duress and has denied that the ships intruded into Russia's territorial waters.
Russia ‘rejects’ Trump plan to cancel Argentina meeting and will summon president to meet Putin: report resident Donald Trump on Thursday attempted to cancel his planned meeting with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Argentina. “Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting in Argentina with President Vladimir Putin,” Trump tweeted. “I look forward to a meaningful Summit again as soon as this situation is resolved!” Trump, however, may not have the final say on the matter. The Jerusalem Post on Thursday headlined, “Russia rejects Trump’s cancelled meeting, Kremlin ready for contact.” “The Kremlin regrets US President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Argentina and said Moscow is ready for contact with Trump, RIA news agency cited spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Friday,” JPost reported.
Trump needs to meet with Putin. Communication is critical during crisis. Actually, there are several of them going on now that Putin is a key player in, friend or foe. Putin has a lot of dirt on the Democrats and the potential risk of a meeting between Putin and Trump may be the reason Hillary has not yet offically annouced her Presidential run yet. Trump needs to think for himself on this one and spend quality time with Putin on International and domestic issues for both countries. Russia and the Democrats go back a long way. However, Putin likely realizes there is great opportunity in accelerating Russia’s move towards Capitalism, reaching an agreement on sanctions and trade, and resolving geopolitical issues. Russia has enormous resources and it is likely that other resource based countries prefer the sanctions remain on Russia in order to lock them out of the global market. There needs to be big, difficult concessions by both sides, but some of the concessions the US would need to make are concessions in mind only. There is no reason why Russia cannot become a solid ally of the United States. We need to move past cold war mistrust and US defence company desires to sell as many arms as possible. While neither Putin or Trump are saints, they can both inprove the standing of their respective countries by meeting and negotiating the issues that ultimately face us all.