The White House has formally invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Friday, returning to an idea that was put on hold in July amid anger in the U.S. over the prospect of such a summit.
President Donald Trump held a summit with Mr. Putin in Helsinki, the Finnish capital, and then issued Mr. Putin an invitation to visit Washington in the fall. But that was postponed after Mr. Trump faced allegations of cozying up to the Kremlin.
“We have invited President Putin to Washington,” Mr. Bolton said at a news conference during a visit to ex-Soviet Georgia, days after meeting Mr. Putin and senior security officials in Moscow.
Mr. Bolton said he gave Mr. Putin an invitation to visit next year during his trip to Moscow, U.S. broadcaster RFE/RL reported.
It was not immediately clear if Mr. Putin had accepted the invitation. Mr. Putin last held a meeting with a U.S. president on American soil in 2015 when he met Barack Obama on the sidelines of a U.N. General Assembly.
Mr. Trump’s earlier invitation to Mr. Putin sparked an outcry in Washington, including from lawmakers in Mr. Trump’s Republican party, who argued that Mr. Putin was an adversary not worthy of a White House visit.
The topic of Mr. Putin visiting the United States is a highly-charged one, because U.S. intelligence agencies allege that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help Mr. Trump win. Russia denies any election meddling.
Mr. Trump has said it is in U.S. interests to establish a solid working relationship with Mr. Putin.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin plan to hold a bilateral meeting in Paris on Nov. 11 on the sidelines of events to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War.