Vladimir Putin hits back after cancelled summit, US sanctions
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he prefers “continued dialogue” over war, following US President Donald Trump’s cancellation of a planned summit and the imposition of sanctions on two of Russia’s largest oil companies.
“The US side proposed both the meeting itself and its location, and I agreed with this, expressed my thoughts on the matter, and said that, of course, such meetings need to be well-prepared,” the Russian leader told reporters in Moscow.
“It would be a mistake both for me and the US President to approach this lightly and leave the meeting without the expected result.”
“The US President has decided to cancel or postpone this meeting. More likely, he is talking about postponing it. What can we say?
“Dialogue is always better than any confrontation, any disputes, or, especially, war. That is why we have always supported continued dialogue, and we continue to support it.”
On Wednesday, President Trump, who has called Russia a “paper tiger,” said he had cancelled a planned summit with Putin, while the US Treasury imposed sanctions on two of Russia’s largest oil companies.
