Putin is ready to meet Obama at G8 summit in June

Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed his readiness to meet with his US counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland and said that the invitations extended to the US president to pay a visit to Russia remain in force. The issue of the forthcoming contacts between the Russian and US presidents was discussed during a meeting in the Kremlin with the participation of Vladimir Putin and US President’s National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists that “the parties have agreed that Obama and Putin will meet in Northern Ireland at the G8 summit (in June) and then will hold full-scale talks within the Group of Twenty summit in St. Petersburg.” In addition, according to Ushakov, Putin has again “emphasised that we had a long time ago extended an invitation to Obama to pay an official visit to Russia, and this invitation remains in force.”