Donald Trump continued his love-fest with Vladimir Putin on Thursday by saying he wanted a superpower nuclear summit with the Russian leader and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The president also claimed he believed Putin when the Russian strongman said he wanted peace in Ukraine and insisted Putin should be allowed back into the “G8” international summits that were retitled G7 after he was banished in 2014.
Offering more details of his in-from-the-cold call with Putin, Trump said in the Oval Office that the two leaders discussed “denuclearization.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“He really liked the idea and so did I,” said Trump.
He said it didn’t bother him that he was the first to suggest a meeting between the three big superpowers.
“I am going to have a conference, primarily with China and Russia. President Putin and I agreed that we wanted to do it in a very big way,” Trump said.
He said Russia and the U.S. are spending a lot of money building nuclear weapons and China is catching up in their production. Asked if there would be a summit involving Xi and Putin, Trump said: “I can see that.”
He added that he had a “good relationship” with both men.
Discussing the G7 group of nations, Trump said: “I know Putin would love to be back. Putin should be back. It used to be G8 and then these people threw him out. It would help if Russia was part of that mix.”
He said he argued with Canadian leader Justin Trudeau about the decision.
Trump also said he would be involved in talks to reach peace in Ukraine, beginning with a meeting with Putin. He has said Saudi Arabia may be the venue for the first meeting.
