Trump, Putin had previously undisclosed visit at G20 dinner

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a previously undisclosed conversation during a dinner for G20 leaders at a summit earlier this month in Germany, a White House official said on Tuesday.

The two leaders held a formal two-hour bilateral meeting on July 7 in which Trump later said Putin denied allegations that he directed efforts to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Trump's interactions with the Russian leader were scrutinized closely because of those allegations, which have dominated his first six months in the White House, and Trump's comments as a presidential candidate praising the former KGB spy.

Trump and Putin first met at the G20 during a gathering of other leaders, which was shown in a video. They later held the bilateral meeting, which was attended briefly by a pool of reporters.

In the evening, both men attended a dinner with G20 leaders. Putin was seated next to U.S. first lady Melania Trump. The U.S. president went over to them at the conclusion of the dinner and visited with Putin, the official said. That conversation had not been previously disclosed.

"There was no 'second meeting' between President Trump and President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner. The insinuation that the White House has tried to 'hide' a second meeting is false, malicious and absurd," the official said.

In a tweet late on Tuesday, Trump said: "Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is "sick." All G 20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew!"

News of the conversation, first reported by Ian Bremmer, the president of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, could raise renewed concern as Congress and a special counsel investigate allegations by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered to help Trump, a Republican, win the presidency.

Trump says there was no collusion and Russia denies interference in the election.

Bremmer said Trump got up from his seat halfway through dinner and spent about an hour talking "privately and animatedly" with Putin, "joined only by Putin's own translator."

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The lack of a U.S. translator raised eyebrows among other leaders at the dinner, said Bremmer, who called it a "breach of national security protocol."

The White House official said the leaders and their spouses were only permitted to have one translator attend the dinner. Trump sat next to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife. His translator spoke Japanese.

"When President Trump spoke to President Putin, the two leaders used the Russian translator, since the American translator did not speak Russian," the official said.

A U.S. official who was briefed by some of his counterparts about the encounter said some of the leaders who attended the dinner were surprised to see Trump leave his seat and engage Putin in an extended private conversation with no one else from the U.S. side present.

"No one is sure what their discussion was about, and whether it was purely social or touched on bilateral or international issues," the official said.

Source: Reuters

U.S. lobby say many economies like China pursue policies detrimental to infocomm sector

Many economies, including China, pursue policies on national security grounds that may hit the free flow of trade and investment in information and communications technology (ICT), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a report.

In deciding national security risks, governments often look to the potential for cyber espionage or sabotage by foreign governments, according to the report, issued ahead of the G20 summit of world leaders this weekend.

Though such concerns are not unfounded, the policies, laws and regulations being considered create a competitive advantage for indigenous companies in the ICT sector and push out foreign competition - and that will come at a cost, the chamber said.

China, Russia, India, Brazil, Europe and also the United States were examined in the report.

Taking China as a case study, a decision to purge foreign ICT product and service providers from the market would lead to an annual cut in China's gross domestic product anywhere from 1.77–3.44 percent, or at least $200 billion based on 2015 GDP, according to the report.

By 2025, this would equate to a reduction in China's GDP of nearly $3 trillion annually, the chamber said, citing an analysis by U.S.-based research firm the Rhodium Group.

More than 40 global business groups last month petitioned China's Premier Li Keqiang, according to a copy of a letter seen by Reuters, urging Beijing to revise draft cyber rules they say are vague and discriminate against foreign enterprises.

China has said its pending cyber security law will not create obstacles and barriers for international trade and foreign businesses investing in China.

Foreign firms fear they will be required to make products in China or use source code released to inspectors, forcing them to expose intellectual property.

Asked about the report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the facts show foreign investors continue to view China well and are increasing their investments.

"We hope the relevant side, when issuing such reports or opinions, can more objectively and fairly comment, seeking truth from the facts, on China's development and investment environment," she told a daily news briefing in Beijing on Friday.

Source: Reuters

Rússia espera que Putin e Obama falem sobre Síria no G20

Os presidentes da Rússia, Vladimir Putin, e dos Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, não programaram uma reunião bilateral na cúpula do G20 que começa neste fim de semana na China, mas é provável que aproveitem a reunião para, pelo menos, falarem sobre a Síria, disse nesta quarta-feira o porta-voz do Kremlin, Dmitri Peskov.

"Não está prevista uma reunião, mas acreditamos que é muito provável que Putin e Obama tenham a oportunidade de conversar durante a cúpula. De uma forma ou de outra, está claro que ambos vão trocar opiniões sobre o assunto sírio", disse Peskov em entrevista coletiva.

Apesar de todas as diferenças que os dois líderes mantêm sobre o presente e o futuro da Síria, Rússia e Estados Unidos vêm cooperando como nunca neste assunto nas últimas semanas, tanto para coordenar suas operações no terreno, como para assentar o caminho para a paz no país árabe.

Os dois países negociam no mais alto nível um cessar-fogo durável na Síria, mas não foram capazes até agora de coincidir em quais milícias armadas sírias pertencem à oposição moderada e quais fazem parte de organizações terroristas.

O governo americano reconheceu que os jihadistas da Frente al Nusra lutam ao lado da oposição moderada em Aleppo e prometeu separar seus aliados dos terroristas, mas também acusou o regime sírio de Bashar al Assad, que é um aliado da Rússia, de bombardear a população civil e exigiu o fim desses ataques.

A Rússia, por sua vez, defende que a operação militar em Aleppo, a segunda cidade mais importante do país, tem objetivos humanitários e denuncia que parte da oposição armada apoiada pelos EUA se nega a respeitar o cessar-fogo e prefere lutar lado a lado com os terroristas.

Fonte: EFE