Putin says ready for direct dialogue with Trump

Russian President Vladimir held his annual press conference in Moscow on Thursday. 

Putin says ready for direct dialogue with Trump

Putin said that he is ready to meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump and discuss bilateral relations and multiple issues on the international agenda.

"I don't know if there is going to be a meeting between us. I have said many times that we are ready, and we believe that there are issues we must discuss together," Putin said.

He said the two sides need to discuss the bilateral relations which both Moscow and Washington are interested in, as well as issues regarding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Afghanistan and many others in the world.

"I hope that something is going to be corrected, as in fact we have reached the bottom of our relations and we should understand that there is a necessity to go up from this bottom, take a breath of fresh air and to think with a clear head on how to live further," Putin said.

Last month, following the cancellation of a meeting between the leaders in Paris, Trump called off another previously scheduled meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. Trump's calling off the meeting was denounced by Moscow as a result of US internal politics.

Syrian constitutional committee near completion

The establishment of the Syrian constitutional committee is reaching its final phase and the actual political settlement in the country could start as early as next year, Putin said.

He said the list of participants of the committee has been agreed on by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and presented to the United Nations.

Nevertheless, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported Wednesday that the United Nations "took a wait-and-see position at the instigation of our partners -- Germany, France and the United States," the president said.

"But in any case, this work is, and I want to believe it, at a final stage. And I hope that if not before the end of this year, then at the beginning of next year, the list will be agreed upon and a new stage of the settlement, a political one, will begin," he said.

The constitutional committee dedicated to promoting a constitutional reform in Syria was created at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress held in January in the Russian city of Sochi.

Other countries including Russia, Turkey and Iran have since then been making efforts to create conditions to facilitate the beginning of the committee's work.

Putin praises achievements of China's reform and opening-up

Putin praised the achievements of China's development in the past decades, calling China's reform and opening-up "the right step."

"We are positive about the changes that happened in China. I believe for a country like China, with a population of 1.3 billion, stability and predictability are very important, including the domestic policy," Putin said.

"Stability guarantees the progressive development of China," he added, referring to China's reform and opening-up in the past 40 years.

Putin also applauded the closer China-Russia ties and expected the total volume of bilateral trade this year to reach the targeted 100 billion US dollars.

"This is the result of the state of Russia-China relations and the rise of trust between our countries," he said.

The president also noted that cooperation between Russia and China helps to maintain more stable global dynamics.

"We cooperate not only in the spheres of economy and security, but also actively cooperate in the international arena," Putin said, noting that "the Russian-Chinese interaction in the international arena is a factor of stability and predictability for the development of the world."

The Kremlin initiated Putin's annual press conference in 2001, which provides an opportunity for the president to elaborate on policy and solve pressing problems facing ordinary Russian citizens.