Summit in Budapest was proposed by U.S. side, such meetings need good preparation - Putin

MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) - A Russia-U.S. summit and its venue in Budapest were proposed by the U.S. side, U.S. President Donald Trump has now most likely made a decision to move this meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"As to the statement by the president of the United States, what can I say. In the most recent phone conversation the meeting itself and its venue were proposed by the U.S. side, and I agreed with it, but I stated my ideas in this regard and I said that such meetings no doubt need good preparation. And it would be a mistake for me and for the U.S. president to approach it lightly and to come from this meeting without the expected result," Putin told reporters, commenting on the most recent statements made by Trump on a meeting in Budapest.

Putin said the U.S. president agreed with that fully and said that a whole number of U.S. administration officials will work to prepare for this meeting, naming some of them. "And I said that we, after the U.S. colleague decides on the final list of those who will be working on preparations for our meetings, we, for our part, will also announce who will be working on our, Russian side. But at the first stage, without any doubt, the first steps in this direction should be made by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Secretary of State Rubio. We decided on that," the Russian president said.

"Now I see, I am familiar with this statement - the U.S. president has decided to cancel or move this meeting, he is most likely talking about moving this meeting. What can one say? Dialogue is always better than confrontation, than some arguments, let alone war. Therefore, we have always supported it - further dialogue - and we support it now," he said.