“We denied that,” O’Brien said when asked about such a meeting during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Trump has discussed in recent months the possibility of a meeting with Putin ahead of the November elections, two sources close to the White House said. Sources, who have spoken to White House officials, said having a meeting in New York around the time of the United Nations General Assembly was thrown up as a possibility.
However, the sources believed that this was Putin’s idea and what Trump considered, but not something that was decided upon. O’Brien on Sunday appeared definitive to say that such a meeting did not take place.
Later, when asked if the president had requested a meeting with his Russian counterpart in the US, O’Brien replied, “No, we are not holding a meeting with Putin in the United States.”
“We would like Putin to come here, hopefully, to sign a huge arms control that protects Americans and protects Russians,” he added.
This week, Special Presidents for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea will meet with his Russian counterparts in Vienna, the State Department announced last week. This is his second round of talks on arms control with the Russians this summer, following an earlier round in June.
Because the Trump administration has previously said that its goal would be to establish a weapons control alliance with Russia and China, and China has rejected these talks several times, it does not seem likely that a weapons control framework could be established in the very near future. agreed.
O’Brien said Sunday that the US is interested in better relations and is mediating an arms control deal with Russia.
“When the Soviet Union was there and the evil empire was there, Ronald Reagan negotiated to try the nuclear weapons that are being changed to each country. We would like to see that happen. We would like to have good relations with Russia, but that’s up to the Russians, “O’Brien said.
The Trump administration has lost a number of important arms control pacts, most notably the Treaty of Open Skies, in favor of seeking a three-party agreement with Russia and China. The push for a trilateral agreement is widely seen as a way to set up New START, the nuclear reduction treaty between the US and Russia, which expired in February 202. Beijing has rejected calls to participate in trilateral talks.
O’Brien also said that instead of a meeting ahead of the election with Trump, the Russians are proposing a summit with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, known as the P5, to try to bully ‘the US’ into Iran’s nuclear deal. . Trump said Saturday that he does not want to participate in a virtual summit over Iran.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Devan Cole and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
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