WASHINGTON -- The White House said Friday that President Donald Trump's administration "is not considering supporting" a call by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a referendum in eastern Ukraine, distancing itself from the idea in the aftermath of Trump's summit with the Russian leader.
Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, said that during their Helsinki summit, the two leaders had discussed the possibility of a referendum in separatist-leaning eastern Ukraine.
But Trump's National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis said agreements between Russia and the Ukrainian government for resolving the conflict in the Donbas region do not include any such option and any effort to organize a "so-called referendum" would have "no legitimacy."
The back-and-forth came as the White House outlined the agenda for a proposed second summit between Trump and Putin -- in Washington this fall -- that would focus on national security. Moscow signaled its openness to a second formal meeting between the two leaders as criticism of Trump over his first major session with his Russian counterpart continued in the U.S.
On Friday, Trump tweeted, "I got severely criticized by the Fake News Media for being too nice to President Putin. In the Old Days they would call it Diplomacy. If I was loud & vicious, I would have been criticized for being too tough."
A White House official said the next Trump-Putin meeting would address national security concerns that were discussed in Helsinki, including Russian meddling. The official did not specify if that meant Russia's interference in U.S. elections. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss planning, said the talks would also cover nuclear proliferation, North Korea, Iran and Syria.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi urged House Speaker Paul Ryan to make clear that Putin wouldn't be invited to address Congress if he visits Washington.
She said Trump's "frightened fawning over Putin is an embarrassment and a grave threat to our democracy."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a sunnier view of the likely second get-together.
He said at the United Nations that he was "happy that the two leaders of two very important countries are continuing to meet. If that meeting takes place in Washington, I think it is all to the good. Those conversations are incredibly important."
In Moscow, Antonov said it is important to "deal with the results" of the first summit before jumping too fast into a new one. But he said, "Russia was always open to such proposals."
No Russian leader has visited the White House in nearly a decade.
U.S. officials have been mum on what, if anything, the two leaders agreed to in Helsinki during a two-hour, one-on-one meeting. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said Thursday that he had yet to be briefed on the private session.
The Russian government has been more forthcoming.
"This issue [of a referendum] was discussed," Antonov said, adding that Putin made "concrete proposals" to Trump on solutions for the four-year, Russian-backed insurgency in eastern Ukraine, which has killed more than 10,000 people. He did not elaborate on what Putin's solutions would be.
Putin gave his latest account of the meeting Thursday at a conference with top Russian ambassadors and officials at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, according to two people who attended the private speech. The people asked not to be identified discussing the president's comments to the part of the session that was closed to the public.
At the conference, Putin told Russian diplomats that he proposed the referendum to Trump during their meeting. One of the people said Trump had requested Putin not discuss the referendum idea at the news conference after the summit in order to give the U.S. leader time to consider it.
Putin's proposal would call for a vote conducted under international auspices by the residents of the separatist territories on their status, the people said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the details of what Putin said about Ukraine at the summit, saying only, "Some new ideas were discussed. They will be worked on."
The proposal will alarm Ukrainian officials after Trump last week appeared to leave open the possibility of recognizing Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, which triggered the crisis that led to fighting in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukraine has offered the areas autonomy under its rule and backs the deployment of international peacekeepers in the region.
The U.S. and the European Union have repeatedly accused Russia of sending troops and weapons to support separatists in eastern Ukraine. Russia denies the charge, though Ukraine has captured a number of Russian soldiers and weaponry on its territory.
At his news conference with Trump after Monday's summit in Helsinki, Putin pointed to a 2014 referendum, which wasn't internationally recognized, to justify Russia's annexation of Crimea. "We believe that we held a referendum in strict compliance with international law," he said. "This case is closed for Russia."
In a sign of support for the Ukraine government, the Pentagon said Friday that it would provide $200 million in additional training, equipment and advisory assistance to Ukraine's military.
TRUMP BLAMES OBAMA
Trump said in a television interview broadcast Friday that President Barack Obama was "a total patsy" for Russia, as he touted his own efforts to forge a better relationship with Putin.
"Getting along with President Putin, getting along with Russia, is positive, not a negative," Trump said during the interview on CNBC's Squawk Box, which was recorded Thursday as the White House announced it was inviting Putin to Washington for a second meeting.
During the interview, Trump defended his efforts to build a personal relationship with Putin, despite Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
At the same time, Trump contended that he has been "far tougher on Russia than any president in many, many years, maybe ever."
As evidence, Trump cited several sets of financial sanctions his administration has imposed on Russian oligarchs, companies and other government officials, as well as the expulsion of Russian diplomats after the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain.
"Look at all the things that I have done," Trump said. "Obama didn't do it. ... Obama was a patsy for Russia. A total patsy."
Under the Obama administration, the United States issued multiple sanctions against Russia after its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Russia was also expelled from the Group of Eight forum during Obama's watch.
In the CNBC interview, Trump also faulted his predecessor for an incident in March 2012 in which Obama told then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would "have more flexibility" after the U.S. presidential election to negotiate on missile defense. The exchange was captured on a live microphone.
"Look at the statement he made. He thought the mics were turned off, OK, the stupid statement he made," Trump told CNBC. "No one makes a big deal of that."
During the interview, Trump brushed aside suggestions that Putin might hold some leverage over him because of his past business dealings in the country or for other reasons.
"It's called the Democrat hoax," Trump said. "It's a big fat hoax."
Trump also defended his performance at the news conference in Helsinki at the end of Monday's summit with Putin. Trump was widely criticized by members of both political parties for not more aggressively confronting Putin about the 2016 election interference.
Trump said those in the media who said he should have publicly scolded Putin are "fools."
"I want to make a deal," Trump said. "You can't do that."
Trump said that if his efforts to improve relations with Putin do not work out, he is comfortable adopting a different posture.
"If that doesn't work out, I'll be the worst enemy he's ever had," he said. "I'll be his worst nightmare."
GERMAN RELATIONS
Separately, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that Germany's relationship with the United States remains "central" to her government despite recent disagreements with Trump over trade and defense spending.
Asked about Trump's frequent attacks on Germany and her in particular, Merkel responded with deliberately measured calm, saying: "I take note of it."
Merkel told reporters during her annual summer news conference in Berlin that Trump's regular jibes at Germany "certainly have something to do with our economic size."
"I try to address the criticism but also to provide an independent, confident answer, and this doesn't always match the view held by the American president."
Addressing one of Trump's biggest complaints -- that Berlin is exploiting the United States when it comes to trade -- Merkel said that that narrative only takes into account the trade in goods. She said that when trade in services and repatriation of profits are taken into account, the figures favor the U.S.
Merkel, now in her fourth term, said tit-for-tat tariffs imposed or threatened between the United States and China could cause collateral damage to German automakers such as BMW, which has its biggest plant in the U.S.
"We see these potential tariffs both as a breach of [World Trade Organization] rules and also as a danger to the prosperity of many in the world," she said.
Merkel said trans-Atlantic cooperation, including with the president, is "of course central for us and I will continue to nurture it," adding that cooperation produces "win-win" situations.
Responding to questions about the meeting between Trump and Putin and a possible second meeting in Washington, Merkel insisted she welcomed their encounter.
"I think it should become normal again for Russian and American presidents to meet," she said. "That's why I'm happy about every meeting."
Information for this article was contributed by Zeke Miller, Ken Thomas, Angela Charlton, Deb Riechmann, Lisa Mascaro, Matthew Daly, Darlene Superville, Susannah George, Frank Jordans and Geir Moulson of The Associated Press; by Ilya Arkhipov, Stepan Kravchenko, Margaret Talev and Andrey Biryukov of Bloomberg News; and by John Wagner of The Washington Post.
A Section on 07/21/2018