Mr. Trump may meet Mr. Putin in Saudi Arabia in May
US President Donald Trump said he would consider a potential meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia during his visit to the kingdom in mid-May, Russia's TASS news agency reported on May 5.
Reporters asked the US leader whether he planned to meet his Russian counterpart during his planned trip. "I don't know, we'll have to think about that... I haven't thought about that," Mr. Trump replied.
"We'll be leaving for Saudi Arabia shortly," the US leader added.
Earlier, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said that communication between the leaders of Russia and the US is necessary to resolve the Ukraine crisis. Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump had a phone call on March 18, in which they discussed a 30-day ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict, conditions to prevent escalation and a number of international issues. The Russian leader agreed with Mr. Trump's proposal that the parties in the conflict in Ukraine refrain from attacks on energy infrastructure.
Mr Trump has previously said he could hold a meeting with the Russian leader after his Middle East tour, which will see him visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from May 13 to 16.
In a related development, US President Donald Trump said "very good discussions" about Russia and Ukraine took place over the weekend. "We had some good conversations about Russia and Ukraine over the weekend," he told reporters.
"It's been over the last few days, actually, but we've had some very good conversations with Russia and Ukraine. There's a lot of hate there, I have to tell you, between the two sides and even between the generals. I mean, there's tremendous hate, but we've had some very good discussions over the last few days," the US president added, without specifying which talks he was referring to.
Earlier, Mr. Trump said Washington was close to an agreement with one of the parties to the conflict in Ukraine, but declined to specify which side it was.
