US President Donald Trump. Photo / AP
The White House pushed to next year US President Donald Trump's planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a move that comes amid intensifying criticism of Trump's conflicting statements on Russian interference in US elections.
"The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year," national security adviser John Bolton said in a statement, referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump has sharply criticised the investigation and has maintained that there was no coordination between Russia and his presidential campaign.
Last week, the White House announced that Trump had asked Bolton to invite Putin to Washington in the northern autumn for a follow-up meeting to their summit in Helsinki this month.
Trump has faced bipartisan push-back in Washington over what critics decry as his overly accommodating approach to Putin, who the US intelligence community determined personally ordered interference in the 2016 campaign aimed at helping the then-GOP nominee.
But Russia also did not immediately jump at the opportunity to schedule a second summit between the two leaders.
In Moscow, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said that the Kremlin had received a second summit invitation from Bolton several days after the Helsinki meeting but that no preparations were in motion.
Considering the current "atmosphere" in Washington, Ushakov told Russia's Interfax news agency, "it seems to me that for now, it would be right to wait for the dust to settle before having a businesslike discussion of all issues, but not now."
Ushakov said that there were "other options" to consider for a bilateral meeting, including at the Group of 20 meeting, which both leaders are expected to attend, in Buenos Aires at the end of November.
Congressional Republicans, who have roundly rebuked Trump's performance alongside Putin in Helsinki, have warned the President against repeating it with the Russian leader in Washington.
Corker to Pompeo: “It’s the president who causes people to have concerns.” A shocking statement you’d never expect a Foreign Relations Cmte chairman to say of a president of his own party. “It’s the president’s actions that create tremendous distrust in this nation & our allies.”
— John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) July 25, 2018
The top Republicans in Congress, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, both said this week that Putin would not be welcome for meetings on Capitol Hill, which customarily occur when a foreign head of state visits Washington.
"I'm one who thinks that it's a good thing for leaders of countries to talk," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, (R), told reporters this week when asked about a second Trump-Putin summit. "But I would consider putting that one on the back-burner for a while."
The meeting's postponement comes amid several signs that the White House is seeking to assuage some of the fears over US Russia policy stoked by Trump's joint appearance with Putin.
As scrutiny increases of Russia's alleged attempts to interfere in November's Midterms, Trump will convene a National Security Council meeting on Saturday NZT devoted to the issue of election security.
The White House also issued a declaration ruling out the possibility of the US recognising Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. The statement follows reports that Putin raised the issue of a referendum on Ukraine in his meeting with Trump last week.
Tomorrow marks one month since @Ocasio2018's upset win in New York. Since then, Democrats have moved from +5.7 to +8.2 on the generic ballot. The national conversation often doesn't reflect what's happening in states. https://t.co/jAfFhpTa4s
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 25, 2018
"The United States rejects Russia's attempted annexation of Crimea and pledges to maintain this policy until Ukraine's territorial integrity is restored," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
He also testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he sought to reassure lawmakers that Trump accepts the intelligence community's conclusion on Russian interference in 2016.
"He has a complete and proper understanding of what happened. I know.
"I briefed him on it for over a year," said Pompeo, who served as CIA director before Trump tapped him for the secretary of state job.
The White House isn't even going to try to give read outs of the President's phone calls with world leaders anymore. This can't be good. https://t.co/qx323YqAzx @kaitlancollins
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) July 25, 2018
Yet the scepticism among many in Congress was on full display, with Pompeo facing tough questions from lawmakers demanding to know what Trump and Putin discussed in their two-hour Helsinki summit and, more broadly, whether the Administration has an overarching foreign policy plan at all.
"You come before a group of senators today who are filled with serious doubts about this White House and its conduct of American foreign policy," said Senator Bob Corker, (R).
He blasted a lack of information from the Trump Administration and said that many lawmakers have left their meetings at the White House without a clear sense that there is a coherent strategy in place.
"The Administration tells us, 'Don't worry, be patient, there's a strategy here,'" Corker said. "But from where we sit, it appears that in a 'Ready, fire, aim' fashion, the White House is waking up every morning and making it up as they go."
"Look at how Lanny Davis,Michael Cohen's lawyer, is characterizing [the recording] today. He's the one who brought up John Edwards. He said this looks like a payment made to squelch a story, to further Donald Trump's election campaign..."- @KenDilanianNBC w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/duPUcdIWfE
— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) July 25, 2018
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