President Trump has declared that he will not meet with Putin after the naval engagement with Ukraine. The Daily Caller reports:
President Donald Trump canceled a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his government’s firing upon and seizing of Ukrainian vessels in a Thursday tweet aboard Air Force One.
Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2018
….in Argentina with President Vladimir Putin. I look forward to a meaningful Summit again as soon as this situation is resolved!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2018
Trump told reporters only an hour before his tweets that he may still have the meeting with Putin but was awaiting a full briefing aboard Air Force One on the situation.
The president noted to the Washington Post on Monday he may cancel the meeting, saying, “Maybe I won’t have the meeting. Maybe I won’t even have the meeting … I don’t like that aggression. I don’t want that aggression at all.”
Russia opened fire on a Ukrainian vessel at sea in disputed waters Sunday, wounding three sailors. Russia subsequently seized three Ukrainian ships in the area and claimed that the vessels were in violation of its territory.
This is an important first step in solidarity with Eastern Europe’s resistance against Russian aggression.
