QINGDAO. June 13 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he feels solidarity with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in the understanding that the next Russia-U.S. summit is desirable and noted that the place where it will be held does not matter as the main thing is to give it real substance.
"The President of the United States has repeatedly said that in his view, such a meeting would be worthwhile. I confirm, it's absolutely true," Putin told a press conference following the SCO summit in China's Qingdao on Sunday.
"[We should meet] as soon as possible. Once the U.S. side is ready, this meeting will be held, naturally, subject to my working schedule," Putin said, noting that he and Trump have not discussed the place of meeting but many countries expressed the desire to host the summit, including "certain European countries, for example, Austria". "But I think this aspect is technical. What is important is to give these meetings, if they materialize, a concrete substance," Putin said.
"I can once again confirm that during the latest phone talk, Trump expressed concern over the threat of a new spiral of the arms race. I agree with him," the Russian leader said.
Substantive discussion on such subjects requires some work to be done by experts from the Foreign Ministry, Putin remarked. "And it also requires face-to-face meetings," he added.