Confirmed: Trump-Putin Summit to Be Held on July 16 in Helsinki

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have scheduled a bilateral meeting for July 16 in Helsinki, Finland, the White House said in a press release on Thursday.

"President Donald J. Trump and President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will meet on July 16, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland," the release said.

The Kremlin has confirmed that the US-Russian summit will be held in Helsinki on July 16. The Kremlin stated that the two presidents would discuss the current state of US-Russia relations, as well as their prospects and other international issues.

Moscow and Washington struck a deal on Wednesday to hold the summit, a move likely to worry some US allies and draw negative reactions from some of Trump's critics at home.

On June 27, Trump told reporters that he would likely talk about Syria and Ukraine during his meeting with Putin. Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton met with Putin in Moscow the same day to begin preparations for the meeting.
Earlier in June, Vladimir Putin said that his meeting with Trump would take place as soon as the US side is ready for it.

Donald Trump has previously said that he wants better relations with Russia; however, he has only met the Russian president once — on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam last November.