White House: No formal Trump-Putin meeting scheduled

WASHINGTON - 10 November 2017: President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not hold a formal meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit here in Vietnam, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday.

Citing "scheduling conflicts on both sides," Sanders said no formal meeting will take place, but that an informal interaction between the two world leaders was likely to happen, CNN reported.

"Regarding a Putin meeting, there was never a meeting confirmed, and there will not be one that takes place due to scheduling conflicts on both sides," Sanders said. "There is no formal meeting or anything scheduled for them."

The possibility of a Trump and Putin meeting has hung over the economic summit, with any interaction -- formal or informal -- threatening to overshadow the President's lengthy trip through Asia.