Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raised the possibility that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met more than three times at the recent G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.
In an interview with Lavrov that aired Friday, NBC News’ Keir Simmons went over the three known meetings between the leaders: a quick photo-op, a two-hour closed-door conversation accompanied by both countries’ foreign ministers and translators, and a third meeting, only recently reported, between Trump, Putin and a Russian translator during a dinner of world leaders.
The Washington Post and other outlets reported Trump and Putin spoke for an hour at the dinner. The White House minimized the importance of the meeting and Trump told the New York Times Wednesday that “[i]t was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes. Just talked about — things.”
“Maybe they went to the toilet together, that was a fourth time,” Lavrov joked to Simmons, interrupting him as he listed the meetings.
“That’s my question,” Simmons responded. “Did they meet other times? In the hallways? Were there other occasions when they met?”
“When you are brought by your parents to kindergarten, do you mix with the people who are waiting in the same room to start going to a classroom?” Lavrov asked.
“It’s the G20, though, not a kindergarten,” Simmons said.
“There is also a room where they get together before an event starts,” Lavrov responded. “They cannot arrive all at the same time on the bus.”
Watch below via NBC News:
