During his first formal summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin this month, President Donald Trump plans to meet with the world leader one-on-one, CNN reported.
Aides will be allowed to enter the meeting, which is set for July 16 in Helsinki, Finland, after the two have had a chance to talk on their own. This will be the first time the two have met for a formal summit. Previously, Putin and Trump have had meetings on the margins of other global gatherings.
During his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump met with the regime leader one-on-one for more than an hour. Trump told reporters ahead of that meeting that he wanted to assess their chemistry up-close.
According to a person familiar with planning who spoke with CNN, Trump hopes to develop a better leader-to-leader relationship with Putin.
Without aides present, there will be no official record of the conversation between the two presidents. Putin and Trump have met once before without aides, for more than an hour at the G20 summit.
