Putin-Trump meet at G20 summit on Friday

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON: Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet Donald Trump for the first time on Friday at the G20 summit in Hamburg, the Kremlin said, confirming long-anticipated talks amid a storm of accusations over the US president’s ties with Russia. “We have agreed on the 7th (of July),” Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yury Ushakov, said on Tuesday in comments carried by the Interfax news agency. Tensions between the two countries have flared amid allegations of Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. The countries are also at odds over Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory and its support of the Syrian regime, with the US supporting anti-Syrian forces. The conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, terrorism and arms control are expected to be major topics during meeting, the Kremlin has said. — dpa