SHOWDOWN

Trump, Putin to Meet Friday at G-20

First face-to-face meeting for the two leaders will take place on the sidelines of the summit.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Friday on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, according to the Kremlin. A top Putin adviser previously said the two leaders would speak in particular about the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine. The adviser, Yuri Ushakov, also said Russia is expecting the U.S. to relinquish its control of their diplomatic facilities, some of which were shut down under the sanctions put into place under the Obama administration. Trump has been complimentary of Putin, calling him “smart” during the campaign and refusing to outwardly affirm the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election with the goal of helping him get elected.