As the entire world continues to talk about World War I commemorations that have been taking place in Paris over the weekend, the spotlight seems…
As the entire world continues to talk about World War I commemorations that have been taking place in Paris over the weekend, the spotlight seems to be pointed at two world leaders: U. S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Accused of coordinating with Kremlin to win the 2016 presidential election, Trump appeared, as detailed by a previous Inquisitr report, ecstatic to meet with his Russian counterpart, beamingly and enthusiastically smiling at the leader.
Photos of Trump and Putin’s brief interaction went viral on social media, prompting some journalists to observe that Trump and Putin appear to have incredible chemistry, exchanging glances, handshakes, and smiles as other world leaders stand beside them watching the warm interaction take place.
But that brief demonstration of their warm and friendly relationship is as far as the two leaders have managed to go during the commemoration, thanks to the French government, which is hosting and organizing the event. According to Vladimir Putin, France warned him and Trump to stay away from each other.
“At their request we’re not holding any meetings here,” Putin told Russian state media, according to the Daily Beast .
This was also stated by a member of the Russian delegation who told the media that the two leaders had been warned to keep away from each other at the Elysee Palace. The French organizers, the Russian official claims, had switched Trump and Putin’s seats just minutes before the working lunch began.
Putin murders journalists & opponents, recently used a nerve agent to assassinate a dissident on British soil, annexed Crimea, facilitates war crimes, and attacked American democracy. This is how Trump reacted when he saw him (notice the difference with Macron/Merkel) pic.twitter.com/VzCSGcuWVR
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) November 11,2018
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, said that the two leaders agreed to hold a meeting at the upcoming G20 summit in Argentina.
In an interview with Russia Today, Putin broke with Trump, claiming that Macron’s desire that the European Union creates its own army is “good for the multipolar world.”
Trump described Macron’s calls for a European army “very insulting,” but later said that a strong Europe is “very important” to the United States, according to CNBC .
“We want to help Europe but it has to be fair. Right now the burden sharing has been largely on the United States,” Trump added.
“Europe is… a powerful economic union and it is only natural that they want to be independent and … sovereign in the field of defense and security,” Putin said, adding that Russia is willing to negotiate with the United States, and address official Washington’s abandonment of the INF Treaty, a 30-year-old arms agreement banning the possession and development of short and mid-range missiles.
“It is not us who are going to withdraw from the INF Treaty, it is the Americans who plan to do that,” the Russian president concluded.
