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Trump heads to Asia for 5-day tour
US President Donald Trump has ruled out any possibility of a meeting with Vladimir Putin. He said on Saturday that he would not schedule any meeting with his Russian counterpart unless it was clear that the Russian leader was serious about reaching a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
" I'll have to know that we're going to make a deal. I'm not going to waste any time ," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled to Asia.
" I have always had an excellent relationship with Vladimir Putin, but this has been very disappointing ," he added.
A planned summit between the two sides was postponed on Wednesday and signals are that there will be no more meeting. The Trump administration also issued tough new sanctions against Russia's biggest oil companies this week, part of a push to get Moscow to abandon its red lines to end the war in Ukraine.
Now US President Donald Trump will test his deal-making skills during a trip to Asia, a region hit by his trade policies, as doubts hang over his long-awaited meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump, who left Washington on Friday evening, will embark on a five-day trip to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, his first to the region and his longest trip abroad since taking office in January.
The Republican leader hopes to hammer out trade deals, critical minerals and a ceasefire before moving on to the toughest challenge, a face-to-face meeting with Xi on Thursday in South Korea. Trump is also working to preserve the signature foreign policy achievement of his second term, a fragile ceasefire he helped negotiate in the Israel-Gaza conflict, as Russia's war in Ukraine and a trade war with China continue.
Washington and Beijing have raised tariffs on each other's exports and threatened to halt trade in critical minerals and technologies.
The trip was officially announced by the White House on Thursday. Details remain unclear, including whether the leaders of the world's two largest economies will meet.
Neither side expects a breakthrough that would restore the trading conditions that existed before Trump's second term was inaugurated in January, according to a person familiar with the talks.
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