Washington: President Donald Trump will meet an array of world leaders on the sidelines of this week’s G20 summit in Japan, including China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, a US official said.
Also on the list are Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Trump will also sit down with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman for talks that are especially timely given the soaring tensions between the United States and Iran.
Trump is set to arrive in Osaka on Thursday to take part in the summit, which is scheduled to be held on the following two days.
The highlights on his agenda are his meeting with Xi, a key to the future of the bilateral trade war between the two super-powers, and the one with Putin, whom he will see for the first time since their last meeting almost a year ago in Helsinki.
The meeting with the Chinese president — which is highly anticipated as the two sides try to reach a deal on trade — is expected to take place on Saturday, the second day of the summit, in Osaka.
After the Group of 20 summit, the Republican president will head to Seoul.
When asked if Trump was planning a visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border of North and South Korea, the official neither confirmed nor denied. (Agencies)
