Two world leaders set to meet on the sidelines in Hamburg Two world leaders set to meet on the sidelines in Hamburg<\/b>
\nPresident Donald Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week at the G20 summit in Germany, the White House confirmed Thursday.
According to national security adviser H. R. McMaster, the meeting, set to take place on the sidelines of the summit, is one of numerous planned by Trump during his time in Hamburg.
\u201cThere is no specific agenda, \u201d McMaster said. \u201cIt\u2019s really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about.\u201d
\u201cOur relationship with Russia is no different than any other country.\u201d
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also confirmed the meeting Thursday but stated no followups had been planned.
\u201cThey will meet in any case there, on the sidelines of this summit, but no (separate) meeting is planned at the moment, \u201d Peskov said.
Prior to the meeting\u2019s confirmation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that such an encounter would likely cover topics including Ukraine as well as the \u201cnormalization\u201d of US-Russia relations.
\u201cFirst of all, we should try to achieve normalization of dialogue, so that the dialogue is based on the fundamental interests of both Russia and the US, \u201d Lavrov said.
The meeting, which will be the first face-to-face between the two world leaders, comes amid escalating tensions over the ongoing crisis in Syria.
The White House claimed Monday that it had detected \u201cpotential preparations\u201d by the Syrian government for a chemical attack, warning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that a \u201cheavy price\u201d would be paid if such weapons were used.
\u201cThe United States has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children, \u201d the White House statement said. \u201cThe activities are similar to preparations the regime made before its April 4,2017 chemical weapons attack.\u201d
\u201cAs we have previously stated, the United States is in Syria to eliminate the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. If, however, Mr. Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price.\u201d
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley followed up on Twitter by stating that any chemical attacks would be blamed not only on Syria, but also on Russia and Iran.
\u201cAny further attacks done to the people of Syria will be blamed on Assad, but also on Russia & Iran who support him killing his own people, \u201d Haley said.
Lavrov asserted Wednesday that Russia would respond \u201cin proportion\u201d to any military action from the United States, casting doubt on the White House\u2019s claims.
\u201cThey should not create excuses for more attacks against the Syrian army that is fighting terrorists, \u201d Lavrov said.
\u201cWe\u2019 ve heard multiple times that the U. S. has a smoking gun, but they cannot share it with us because they cannot compromise their sources and methods. Well, I\u2019 m not really interested in hearing those statements anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Similarity rank: 28<\/div>\n

Sentiment rank: 1.7<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n