US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had a second and previously undisclosed meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany earlier this month, US officials say.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer confirmed on Tuesday that the two held an informal talk during the dinner at the summit in the German city of Hamburg on July 7, hours after their first formal bilateral sit-down.
Spicer did not refer to the length or the subject of the conversation.
US National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton also acknowledged that a second meeting had taken place at the world leaders’ dinner, with Trump leaving his seat to occupy an empty chair next to Putin.
“There was a couples-only social dinner at the G20. Toward the end, the President spoke to Putin at the dinner,” Anton said in an interview with CNN. “No staff or Cabinet were at the dinner at all, for any of the countries,” with the exception of translators.
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