US President suddenly cancels side meetings at G20

Shortly after announcing the cancellation of a planned meeting with President Putin on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina, President Trump said he would not hold formal bilateral meetings with his Turkish and South Korean counterparts.

According to Slate, the two previously planned meetings between the US leader and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will become "informal" exchanges on the sidelines of the conference.

This information was released shortly after President Trump announced the cancellation of the summit with his Russian counterpart Putin.

“Because the ships and troops have not been returned to Ukraine by Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting in Argentina with President Vladimir Putin. I look forward to a meaningful Summit as soon as the situation is resolved!”, Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on November 29.

The Kremlin announced a few hours earlier that the meeting between the two Russian and US leaders would take place for 2 hours on December 1 in Buenos Aires.

The White House said Mr. Trump made the decision after discussing the issue with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Advisor John Bolton and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Air Force One.

Before the surprise announcement from the White House owner, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Putin was still ready to contact Mr. Trump and Moscow regretted this decision.

Meanwhile, according to Argentine media, the US President will still maintain his plan to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a meeting expected to ease US-China tensions and move towards a solution to the months-long trade war between the two sides.

The G-20 summit will take place on November 30 and December 1 in Buenos Aires, Argentina./.