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Russian participants at the meeting included Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The discussion focused on the prospects for developing Russian-US relations, disarmament, the Syria and Ukraine crises, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

In addition, an agreement was reached on a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. The time and venue of the summit will be announced later.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Bolton, colleagues, I warmly welcome you to Moscow.

To begin with, I regret to have to point out that Russian-US relations are not at their best. I have mentioned this publicly more than once, and I want to say it again at this meeting as well.

I believe that this is largely due to sharp domestic political strife in the United States, but your visit to Moscow gives us hope that we can make at least the first steps towards restoring full-fledged relations between our states. Russia has never sought confrontation.

I hope that today we can discuss what could be done on both sides to restore full-fledged relations based on equality and respect for each other's interests.

I want to congratulate you on the United States obtaining the right to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. So far, we have been able to run this event properly. We will be glad to share our experience with you.

Welcome.

Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security Affairs John Bolton: Thank you very much, Mr President.

We appreciate your taking the time to receive us today. It is great to be back in Moscow. I very much look forward to discussing with you, as I have had the opportunity to do with your colleagues, how to improve Russian-US relations, find areas where we can agree and make progress together.

Even in earlier days, when our countries had differences and our leaders and their advisors met and I think that was good for both countries, good for stability in the world. President Trump feels very strongly on that subject.

So again, we are most appreciative of your courtesy and graciousness here and I look forward to learning how you handled the World Cup so successfully, among other things.

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