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| Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin lasts more than 2 hours after being scheduled for 30 minutes | Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin lasts more than 2 hours after being scheduled for 30 minutes |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Donald Trump just spent almost two hours and 16 minutes in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. | |
| The meeting was originally scheduled for 30 minutes. It included only the leaders, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and two interpreters. | The meeting was originally scheduled for 30 minutes. It included only the leaders, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and two interpreters. |
| The US President went into the meeting with no set agenda that was made public, but it is reported he and Mr Putin spoke about Syria, Ukraine, the fight against terrorism, and cyber-security. | |
| Ahead of meeting, Mr Trump said it was an “honour” to meet Mr Putin. The Russian leader in turn said that conversations over the phone were not enough to discuss all the matters at hand. | |
| Tom Bernes, a Distinguished Fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, told The Independent that the mood at the G20 was one of "curiosity" about what would be discussed in the meeting. | |
| Mr Trump as the “Uncertainty Engine in the mix” is part of the issue in determining what will come out of the Trump-Putin meeting and the final document - the G20 Communique, Dr Stephen Saideman, an expert on the Western alliance at Canada’s Carleton University, told The Independent. | |
| “It will be hard to gain consensus” given the US president not wanting more action on climate change besides a re-negotiation that several countries have already said will never happen and his “America First” approach to US trade. | |
| Mr Saideman noted however, that given the personalities of the brash Mr Trump and the ex-spy Mr Putin, this is a matter of winning and losing in the one-on-one meeting. | |
| Mr Putin “is likely to win” he said. | |
| The US leader is facing pending FBI, House, Senate, and special prosecutor investigations into his campaign team’s alleged ties to Russian officials as well as obstruction of justice charges. | |
| But, in reality, the meeting is not the biggest priority at the G20. | |
| “In terms of substance, we’re not expecting much” to come out of the face-to-face, Mr Bernes noted. | |
| Mr Bernes, who spent four decades as Canada’s representative to international financial institutions, said that Germany’s ambitions for the meeting were “modest” given their upcoming election, but Mr Trump’s election “threw a curveball”. | |
| He explained that Germany wanted sustainability and a focus on Africa to be the main topics of the discussion, however “developments have forced protectionism and climate change to the forefront”. | |
| What everyone is hoping is a “victory [in] not having a roll back from previous positions”. Nothing happening is almost a good thing. | |
| More follows.... |