MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Thursday said it expected US national security adviser John Bolton to visit Moscow, with Russian media reporting this as preparation for a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
"As far as we know, this trip will indeed happen. That is all we can say so far," Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said during a briefing for journalists.
Citing American sources, Russian news agency Interfax reported the visit is planned "in preparation" for a summit between the two leaders
According to the sources, Bolton is due in Russia "at the start of next week".
Speculation has been rife in Russian and Western media on the highly anticipated summit between the presidents.
The Kremlin on Tuesday said there were no plans for the meeting before the July 11 NATO summit in Brussels, which Trump is expected to attend.
On June 10, Putin said he was ready to meet his US counterpart as soon as Washington was ready, adding Vienna could be a possible venue for such a summit.
The last, brief meeting between Putin and Trump took place in November 2017 in Vietnam during an APEC leaders summit.