Trump privately met Putin at G20 accompanied only by Melania, report says
Donald Trump reportedly sat down for a meeting with Vladimir Putin in November accompanied only by his wife Melania.
In a revelation likely to trigger fresh concerns about the US president’s relationship with Moscow, the Financial Times reported that Mr Trump met the Russian leader during the G20 summit in Buenos Aires without any of his translators or aides present.
The meeting allegedly occurred at the end of an evening event at the Colon Theatre. As other world leaders and guests left the building, Mr Trump and Melania sat down at a table with Mr Putin and one of his translators.
According to a Russian government official quoted by the newspaper, the leaders spoke for around 15 minutes on a range of foreign policy issues, including the Syrian conflict and an incident in the Azov Sea earlier in November in which Ukrainian sailors were fired on and detained by Russia.
The latter incident sparked international condemnation and was the reason given by Mr Trump to cancel what would have been an official face-to-face meeting with Mr Putin in the Argentinian capital.
November’s meeting came just months after the two leaders spoke privately at the summit in Helsinki in which Mr Trump would later back the Russian president over his own intelligence agencies in suggesting Moscow did not interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
At that meeting, the US president went to “extraordinary lengths” to conceal details of their conversation, it was reported earlier this month, including snatching away his translator’s notes and telling them not to reveal details of the conversation.
The unusually secretive way in which Mr Trump has handled meetings with Mr Putin has left his own administration guessing at their content and raised concerns among lawmakers. Democrats have even considered subpoenaing Mr Trump’s Helsinki interpreter,
On Tuesday, US director of national intelligence Dan Coats told lawmakers at a congressional hearing details of Mr Trump’s discussion with Mr Putin in Helsinki were a “sensitive issue” and should only be discussed behind-closed-doors.
Earlier this month, the US president felt obliged to tell the media “he never worked” for Russia following separate reports the FBI opened a probe in 2017 into whether the president was a Russian agent.
It comes as Robert Mueller’s investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia continues to bring charges against former associates of the president.
Roger Stone, a former adviser to Mr Trump, was charged last week on several counts, including lying to Congress. He became the 34th person charged as a result of the special counsel’s enquiry.
The White House has been contacted for comment.
