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2020.08.17 00:08 GMT+8

Trump won't have in-person summit with Putin before elections

Updated 2020.08.17 00:08 GMT+8

National security adviser Robert O'Brien said Sunday that President Donald Trump will not have an in-person summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the November presidential election. /Reuters

National security adviser Robert O'Brien said Sunday that President Donald Trump will not have an in-person summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the November presidential election.

"We've rejected that," O'Brien said when asked of such a meeting during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Trump in the last few months discussed the possibility of a meeting with Putin ahead of the November election, two sources close to the White House said. 

The sources, who have talked to White House officials, said that having a meeting in New York around the time of United Nations General Assembly was raised as a possibility.

The sources, however, believed that this was Putin's idea and something Trump considered but not something that had been decided on. 

O'Brien on Sunday appeared to definitively say such a meeting was not happening.

Pressed later on whether the President has asked for a meeting with his Russian counterpart in the US, O'Brien answered, "No, we're not doing a meeting with Putin in the United States."

"We'd love to have Putin come here, hopefully, to sign a terrific arms control deal that protects Americans and protects Russians," he added.

(With input from agencies)

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