National Security Adviser John Bolton is meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign affairs adviser, in Moscow on Wednesday ahead of a potential summit between Putin and President Trump next month.
Bolton has expressed a critical opinion of Moscow in the past, The Washington Post notes, claiming Russian interference in the U.S. election, which Trump has denied, was an "act of war." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said discussions between Bolton and the Russian leaders will center on international policies and the "sad state of our bilateral relations," Bloomberg News' Jennifer Jacobs reports.
Many critics have observed that details about the meeting between Bolton and Putin have largely been supplied by Russian spokespeople, rather than the White House.