Trump announced his decision via Twitter less than an hour after departing Washington for Argentina
President Donald Trump’s cancellation of a meeting with Vladimir Putin lets him show disapproval over Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian ships last week while avoiding the awkward task of delivering a tough message in person.
Trump announced his decision via Twitter less than an hour after departing Washington for Argentina, where he and Putin were to meet on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit this weekend. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One that Trump made the decision after being briefed mid-air on the Ukraine incident.
Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting….
The move spares Trump from a potential firestorm of criticism in Washington like the one he faced after his last encounter with Putin. In remarks to reporters following a July meeting in Helsinki, he appeared to give more credence to Putin’s denials about Russian interference in the 2016 election than to the U. S. intelligence community’s assessment — prompting sharp rebukes from Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
“Since the Ukrainians had asked Trump to deliver a tough message to Putin, the president had every reason to go ahead with the meeting,” said Stephen Sestanovich, a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs who served as U. S. ambassador-at-large for the former Soviet Union. “You have to think his advisers don’t have much confidence in his ability to stand firm.”
Senior officials in the Russian delegation to Buenos Aires appeared taken aback by the snub. One described it as “really bad.” But they were reluctant to elaborate on whether the move could augur fresh U. S. sanctions on Russia.
“Trying to predict what Trump will do next is like reading tea leaves,” said another official. Putin is due to arrive in Argentina Friday morning.
Trump’s goals for the meeting were always vague, and the timing of his decision — four days after Russia captured three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea — was also impossible to ignore.
