Kremlin: No Agreements on Venue, Date of Putin-Trump Meeting Now


TEHRAN (Tasnim) - There are no particular plans on a meeting between the Russian and US Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, now, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"There are no agreements on this, and there are no special contacts now," Peskov told reporters, denying rumors that the summit may take place in April.

"We are waiting now," he said. "Probably, we need to wait until the US Secretary of State is confirmed," he said, TASS news agency reported.

"There is an agreement between Putin and Trump that they will order the Foreign Minister and the Secretary of State to work on the timeframe and venue of holding this meeting," he recalled.

According to the Kremlin press service, on March 20 Trump congratulated Putin on winning the presidential election. The two leaders called to develop practical cooperation in various areas and also agreed to give instructions on considering the issue of holding a meeting.

A week before the phone conversation, Trump announced that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had been dismissed and Mike Pompeo, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, would replace him.

Officially, Tillerson's tenure ended on March 31, now the duties of the Secretary of State are performed by his first deputy, John Sullivan.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a nomination hearing to consider Mike Pompeo to become new Secretary of State on April 12. If Pompeo is approved, his candidacy is put to the vote to the entire upper house of the Congress.