BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — President Donald Trump said Russian aggression with Ukraine is the “sole reason” he canceled a planned meeting with President Vladimir Putin here as he sparred with Moscow over the motivation for his decision.
“We don’t like what happened,” Trump said of Russia’s seizure of two dozen of Ukraine’s sailors and three of its ships over the weekend. “Hopefully, they’ll settle it out soon.”
Earlier in the day, Maria Zakharova, the top spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, suggested Trump had abruptly nixed the one-on-one because his former fixer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to Congress about a Trump real estate project in Moscow.
Trump had announced Thursday that he wouldn’t meet with Putin in a tweet sent a couple of hours after Cohen’s guilty plea and just minutes after Air Force One departed Washington for the summit.
What Are Your Thoughts?
