President Donald Trump talks with EU leaders ahead of G20

US President Donald Trump on July 3 held a dialogue with EU leaders on a series of hot issues such as climate change, trade and immigration.

ReutersPresident Donald Trump spoke by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a White House official said, and the two discussed the US's announcement of its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change last May.

US President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters

Meanwhile, in a phone call with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, President Donald Trump “praised Italy's efforts in resolving the Libyan refugee crisis.”

Mr. Heather Conley, a former US State Department official under President George W. Bush (Bush Jr.), said that EU countries are "still shocked" by Mr. Donald Trump's skepticism about the relationship between the US and its allies in the G7 and NATO groups.

“Many people are skeptical that Donald Trump will seek to improve this relationship. They all believe that the US President will likely make the relationship between the US and its allies in the G7 and NATO worse,” Mr. Conley commented.

In addition to talks with EU leaders, President Donald Trump is expected to hold his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this weekend.

The US State Department said that on July 3, its official Thomas Shannon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak to prepare for the meeting between the two Russian and US presidents as well as to discuss the possibility that Mr. Shannon would also meet with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov - a meeting that was canceled by Russia in June in response to the US imposing sanctions on Russia.

Immediately after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in November 2016, Russia expressed its desire to improve Russia-US relations, which had fallen to a very low level under President Barack Obama.

However, in the context of investigations into Donald Trump's assistants' alleged "unusual relations" with Russian officials, this meeting between the two Russian-American leaders is considered to have pushed Donald Trump "into a minefield".

This is because if US President Donald Trump appears too close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, his opponents in the US will have an excuse to accuse him of becoming a "puppet in Russia's hands"./.

According to VOV