Kremlin surprised by Trump’s Putin cancellation

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) – The Kremlin says it has not been notified of a cancellation of the much-anticipated meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Russian news agencies on Thursday quoted Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, as saying that the Kremlin only learnt about the cancellation from Trump’s tweet. He says the Russian delegation is already on its way to the G-20 summit in Argentina.

Peskov said the cancellation means that Putin will have “a couple of more hours” for “useful meetings” with other leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies.

Trump abruptly canceled the meeting on Thursday, saying in a tweet that it is not appropriate for him to meet Putin as Russia still has not returned three Ukrainian vessels it seized on Sunday. Russia has also detained 24 Ukrainian seamen.