All eyes are on President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had planned to meet at the G20 before Trump abruptly cancelled on Thursday.
The President pinned the cancellation on Russia’s refusal to release Ukrainian Navy ships and sailors seized during a maritime confrontation between the two countries last Sunday. According to a White House official, Trump and Putin have not rescheduled their meeting, but are like to mingle alongside the other world leaders at the G20 session.
Trump announced the cancellation on Thursday, on his way to the summit, to mixed responses. Some senators and diplomats criticized the cancellation as weak, but at least one person welcomed the news — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tweeted after the news broke, “This is how great leaders act!”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested Friday that the “US domestic political situation” was the real reason the meeting was spiked, alluding to Michael Cohen’s guilty plea in the Mueller investigation on Thursday.
In response, a White House official told CNN that the Kremlin appeared to be “trying to save face” with their statement.
