Voice of America. U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a second, previously undisclosed meeting at the G20 summit earlier this month in Germany, White House officials confirmed Tuesday night.
The two presidents met face-to-face for the first time in Hamburg on July 7, for more than two hours of talks that were extensively covered at the time.
But it has now emerged that Trump and Putin had a second discussion during a dinner that same evening for the heads of state from the Group of 20 and their spouses.
Trump took to Twitter quickly to repudiate the media reports: “Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is ‘sick.'”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/887475373981696000
There was no immediate word on what was discussed at the meeting, which lasted roughly an hour, according to Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
‘Just a brief conversation’
The White House had a sharply different account of what happened. Officials speaking on background, which meant they could not be identified, said: “There was no ‘second meeting’ between President Trump and President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner.”
Bremmer first reported the Trump-Putin meeting Tuesday in a newsletter sent to his clients. Appearing on U.S. networks as the news spread, Bremmer said he had been told about the Trump-Putin exchange by others attending the formal dinner. The press was barred from the proceedings.
The two presidents were joined only by Putin’s translator as they spoke in a conference hall on the banks of the Elbe River. Others dinner guests were seated nearby, but the spacious table setting made it possible to keep the conversation private.
Photo – VoA