'Cannot just meet to waste time': Kremlin echoes Trump's remark over cancelled meeting with Putin

Days after US President Donald Trump cancelled the Budapest meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has said that it was wrong to talk about cancellation of a meeting. Echoing Trump's ‘won’t waste time' sentiments, Kremlin via state television Vesti reported on its Telegram channel that Presidents cannot meet “just waste their time.” The Kremlin also called the US sanctions on Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft “an unfriendly step.” Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that “no precise timeframe was initially set” for Trump-Putin meeting and that “serious preparation" is needed when presidents meet.

"Presidents cannot meet for the sake of meeting, they cannot just waste their time, and they are open about that. That's why they instructed (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov and (U.S. Secretary of State Marco) Rubio to prepare this process. The process is complicated," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state TV Kremlin correspondent Pavel Zarubin.

Highlighting that Russia seeks to build friendly relations with all countries, including the US, Peskov called sanctions on Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft "an unfriendly step. "Despite the various nuances voiced by the president of the United States, we must still be oriented towards our interests. Our interests are to build good relations with all countries, including the United States," Peskov said. "Of course, the actions that were taken this week were an unfriendly step. They have indeed damaged the prospects for resuscitating our relations. But that does not mean that we should abandon these aspirations. We should do what is favourable to us," Peskov added.

Trump reveals REAL reason why he cancelled Budapest meeting with Putin

Trump on Oct 22 confirmed that his meeting with Russian President Putin has been put on hold. Issuing his remark from the White House, Trump said that he didn’t want a “wasted meeting” with his Russian counterpart. This came after Russia rejected Trump's demand for a ceasefire in the war with Ukraine. “I don’t want to have a wasted meeting, I don’t want to have a waste of time — so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said in remarks at the White House on Tuesday.