Currently ‘no plans’ for Putin-Trump meeting in China: Kremlin

The Kremlin said on Wednesday there currently are “no plans” for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in China.

“There are no such plans at the moment,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a question about Putin and Trump's visit to China next month during a press briefing in Moscow.

Confirming that preparations are underway for Putin's visit to China, Peskov added that "high-level contacts" are also being made in this regard and that the timing of these contacts will be announced to the media in due course.

Peskov’s remarks come as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in remarks to Russian media outlets, including state news agency Tass, before wrapping up a two-day visit to Beijing, that Putin will visit China "in the first half of this year.”

Citing two unnamed sources, Russian daily Vedomosti reported earlier that Putin’s visit is likely to take place in the second half of May, with preliminary dates discussed for the week of May 18.

Putin last visited China in September of last year, when he attended a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the northern city of Tianjin and a military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Separately, the White House said last month that Trump will travel to Beijing on May 14 and 15 for a high-level summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Putin and Trump last met during a summit in Alaska last August.