Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said before he left for the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires that he had cancelled a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, announcing the change via Twitter:
Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2018
….in Argentina with President Vladimir Putin. I look forward to a meaningful Summit again as soon as this situation is resolved!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2018
But, like virtually everything this president says about Russia, that turned out to be a lie, with White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders admitting that Trump did indeed have a conversation with Putin:
“As is typical at multilateral events, President Trump and the First Lady had a number of informal conversations with world leaders at the dinner last night, including President Putin.”
Informal? What does that mean, exactly? That Trump wasn’t required to bow down and kiss Putin’s ring or offer to shine his shoes for him?
What exactly did that “informal” chat the two leaders had revolve around? According to Putin, it was about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine standoff:
“He has his position about that and I have mine. We stayed in our own positions.”
Putin also attempted to blame Ukraine for the dust-up between the two countries:
“The current Ukrainian leadership is not interested in resolving this at all. As long as they stay in power, war will continue.”
What Putin neglected to mention is that his country illegally seized the ships in question and have also attempted to destabilize Ukraine by annexing the Crimea in violation of international law. All of these actions by Russia have largely been met with a complete lack of concern by Trump or his administration, which seems willing to let Putin do as he pleases.
Featured Image Via BBC Screenshot
