White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says President Donald Trump proposed the White House as a potential place to host a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The suggestion came during a March 20 call between the two leaders. Trump said after that call he hoped to meet with Putin "in the not too distant future," both sides have said planning has not gone any further.
Sanders did not give additional information about plans for the meeting to take place.
"We have nothing further to add at this time," she told reporters Monday.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov also said Trump floated the idea of hosting Putin for talks at the White House.
Trump is under scrutiny as a special counsel investigates potential ties between his presidential campaign and Russia. The U.S. intelligence community has assessed Putin directed an influence campaign aimed at the 2016 election that brought Trump to office.
Trump says there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia.
Since the March 20 phone call, relations between the two countries became more complicated with the United States expelling 60 Russian diplomats and ordering the closure of a Russian consulate in response to the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Britain. Russia denies it was responsible for the attack, and responded to the U.S. move by expelling U.S. diplomats and closing a U.S. consulate.
