'I had a short conversation with Trump and I DIDN’T sit next to Melania' – Putin

Vladimir Putin has confirmed he spoke with Donald Trump during dinner at the G20 summit. However, he shot down any claim that he sat next to First Lady Melania during the meal, despite a photo floating around the internet.

"At dinner we talked," Putin said during a press conference in Buenos Aires, referencing his encounter with the US president at the G20 summit.

Putin said that he briefly explained to Trump what happened in the Kerch Strait last Sunday as the incident led to US president cancelling their planned meeting. However, Putin noted, he and Trump have different positions on the issue.

Putin said he hopes a proper meeting with Trump will happen "sooner or later," believing it will occur "when the United States will be ready for that." When a meeting does happen, Putin said there will be no preconditions.

We don't have any preconditions because the matters that we need to discuss are too important...strategic stability is a number one priority because it is related to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The Russian president also quashed any suggestion that he’d sat next to Melania Trump at the meal, when asked about a photo online which shows them side-by-side. At first, Putin thought it might be photoshopped, but later said: "Those pictures were from Hamburg, from the previous G20 summit."

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