WASHINGTON — President Trump will convene a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit of industrial and emerging-market nations in Germany next week, the White House said Thursday, amid swirling allegations about Moscow’s role in the 2016 elections.
National security adviser H.R. McMaster confirmed that Trump will meet with Putin along the sidelines of the annual Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, part of an itinerary that will include meetings with several world leaders.
Trump’s first in-person encounter with Putin has been highly anticipated as Trump pushes back against allegations that some of his associates may have had contact with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign and the transition.
All 17 US intelligence agencies have agreed Russia was behind last year’s hack of the Democratic Party’s e-mail systems and tried to influence the 2016 election to benefit Trump. Members of his campaign are also under investigation for possible collusion with Russia in the lead-up to the campaign.
Trump has staunchly denied that he had any contacts with Russia during his campaign. Russian officials have denied any meddling in the election.
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told Russian news agencies after the White House announcement that Putin is expecting to meet with Trump in Hamburg. They ‘‘will meet at the summit in one way or another. We have said it before,’’ he told the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.
McMaster and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn would not say whether the president intends to address accusations that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, saying that the agenda is ‘‘not finalized’’ for this or any other meeting.
‘‘Our relationship with Russia is not different from that with any other country in terms of us communicating to them really what our concerns are, where we see problems with the relationship, but also opportunities,’’ McMaster said.
The US-Russian relationship deteriorated during Obama’s eight years in office and Trump said he was hopeful of improving American ties with Russia.
But major disagreements remain over Ukraine and Syria, and Trump said in April that US-Russian relations ‘‘may be at an all-time low.’’ The meeting will also come as Congress considers legislation that would impose economic penalties against Russia and Iran, legislation that has stalled after it cleared the Senate.
Trump will be under pressure to side with the US intelligence agencies and press Putin on the issue of election meddling, something he has thus far been reluctant to do. Trump’s promise of closer cooperation with Russia has prompted concerns that the US will have diminished leverage over global issues and he could be more sympathetic to Russia.
‘‘Putin is all about optics and symbolism,’’ said Julianne Smith, a National Security Council and Defense Department official under President Barack Obama. ‘‘He wants the meeting and the photo more than the discussion.’’
Russia has sought to put itself on equal footing with the United States since the collapse of the Soviet Union, extending its territory where it can, countering US military action, and positioning itself as a rival.
McMaster said that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is taking the lead on the discussions and ‘‘has been engaged in a broad, wide-range discussion about irritants, problems in the relationship but also to explore opportunities, where we can work together, areas of common interest. So it won’t be different from our discussions with any other country.’’
White House officials said Trump would also meet with the leaders of several other countries, including Germany, China, South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, and Singapore.
