MOSCOW, May 24 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama will meet twice in the next four months, a Kremlin aide said Friday.
Yury Ushakov said the first meeting would in June during the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland and the second will take place before the Group of 20 meeting in Russia in September, RIA Novosti reported.
The meetings are expected to discuss proposals by Putin that were presented in a letter to Obama Wednesday by Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Ushakov said. The letter has suggestions for improving bilateral relations between the two countries, including cooperation between security and law enforcement agencies, he said.
Discussions also are likely to touch on European missile defenses, the aide said.
Valery Gerasimov, Russia's chief of the general staff, on Thursday said Obama's insistence on strengthening missiles defenses in Europe were delaying cuts in Russia's missile deterrence.
