This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
U.S. President Donald Trump has landed in Japan ahead of a G20 summit in Osaka where he is expected to hold at least eight bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the main gathering.
The first face-to-face meeting will take place on June 27 with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Trump’s schedule includes sit-downs with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He will also hold one-on-one meetings with Germany’s Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Trump told reporters as he left the White House that he expects a “very good conversation” with Putin but added that “what I say to him is none of your business.”
Aside from Iran, Trump and Putin are expected to discuss Syria and Venezuela, as well as nuclear weapons.
Trump canceled a planned meeting with Putin at the G20 in Argentina in November after Russia seized two Ukrainian vessels and their crew in the Sea of Azov.
Trump’s top aim during his meeting with Xi will be rebooting trade negotiations between the United States and China after they collapsed earlier this year, according to a U.S. official.
Trump will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed, who U.S. intelligence services concluded ordered the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident.
Saudi Arabia remains a lynchpin for the U.S. Middle East strategy to counter Iran, and Trump keeps pursuing a close relationship with Riyadh.
