Trump May Cancel Putin Meeting at G20 Over Ukraine Incident

Says he's waiting for a full report to decide on meeting

Addressing the Sunday maritime incident between Russia and Ukraine, President Trump has said he may cancel his planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of this weekend’s G20 summit.

Maybe I won’t even have the meeting … I don’t like that aggression,” Trump said. He did, however, say that he is waiting for a full report on the matter to decide on the meting. The Trump-Putin meeting was intended to address security issues and arms control.

On Sunday, Russia seized three Ukrainian naval boats in the Sea of Azov. Russia says the boats entered closed Russian waters, while Ukraine insists they did nothing wrong. The US State Department is backing Ukriane, and urging European nations to “do more” to help Ukraine militarily.

With the US backing Ukraine over the dispute, the cancellation of the G20 talks might make sense. On the other hand, Trump and Putin meet so rarely as it is because of constant diplomatic tensions, that even minor sideline meetings such as this are a serious loss to diplomatic efforts.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.