Trump, Putin to hold first summit meeting in Helsinki on July 16

United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will hold their first summit meeting on July 16 in Helsinki, Finland, the White House announced on Thursday.

They “will meet on July 16, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.

“The two leaders will discuss relations between the United States and Russia and a range of national security issues,” Sanders said in a statement.

Putin and Trump discussed holding a summit when the US president congratulated him on his re-election in March.

The announcement of date and venue comes a day after Putin’s adviser Yuri Ushakov in Moscow said the two leaders will meet in a third country.

The summit will include one-on-one talks between the presidents and conclude with a joint news conference, Ushakov said, adding that the two leaders are expected to issue a joint statement after their meeting.

Ushakov’s annoucement came hours after President Putin met with US National Security Adviser John Bolton in Moscow.

According to Russian media, Putin and Bolton discussed “strategic stability in the world, control over nuclear weapons and, in general, a disarmament dossier”. They also discussed the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, North Korea, and the Iran nuclear deal.