
"Next time in Moscow": Putin extends Trump invitation as summit ends
The intrigue: Putin made the remark in English, a language he rarely speaks in public. The suggestion drew a surprised chuckle from Trump, who didn't rule it out but said he'd "get a little heat for that one."
The big picture: If Trump were to travel to Russia, it would be the first time in over a decade that an American president set foot on Russian soil.
Putin is angling for a more friendly relationship with the U.S. after being isolated on the world stage, and would likely consider such a visit a major coup.
But there's no sign as of now that it's likely to happen.
What they're saying: Putin's "next time in Moscow" quip came just at the end of Trump's televised remarks.
"Oh, that's an interesting one," Trump replied. "I'll get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening."
The White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment on the president's willingness to travel to the Russian capital.
Catch up quick: In a joint press briefing, President Trump called the highly-anticipated peace talks "productive" but said that the two leaders "didn't get there" on a ceasefire or on ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump said the two agreed on many issues but could not come to an agreement on "the biggest one."
Putin said that it was very important for the two countries "to go back to cooperation," and that it was time for the superpowers to shift from "confrontation to dialogue."
Neither Putin nor Trump offered any details of a potential agreement.
Flashback: Barack Obama was the last U.S. president to visit Russia over a decade ago, according to the State Department.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Post
15 minutes ago
- New York Post
DC police allegedly downplay violent crimes to make stats look more favorable: ‘Completely agree' with Trump
The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, is facing accusations it routinely manipulates statistics on crimes such as stabbings, shootings and carjackings to create the appearance that violent offenses are dropping. At least one high-ranking officer has been suspended so far over the disturbing allegations, which the DC Police Union has said effectively reflect standard operating procedure. Michael Pulliam, police commander of the DC's 3rd District, was put on paid leave in mid-May, allegedly for manipulating local crime statistics to make them appear more favorable. 'When our members respond to the scene of a felony offense where there is a victim reporting that a felony occurred, inevitably there will be a lieutenant or a captain that will show up on that scene and direct those members to take a report for a lesser offense,' DC Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton told NBC Washington last month. 'So instead of taking a report for a shooting or a stabbing or a carjacking, they will order that officer to take a report for a theft or an injured person to the hospital or a felony assault, which is not the same type of classification.' The department confirmed to the outlet that Michael Pulliam, commander of the city's 3rd District, was put on paid leave in mid-May — and unnamed law enforcement sources said he was being investigated internally for making questionable changes to crime data. Pulliam allegedly falsified violent crime statistics to make them appear more favorable for the city, an accusation he denies. President Trump last week invoked section 740 of DC's Home Rule Act to place the capital's police force under federal control for 30 days, citing an out-of-control rise in violent crime, particularly among youthful offenders. President Trump evoked a section of Washington, DC's, Home Rule Act to put law enforcement authorities under federal control in the district for 30 days and has deployed 700 National Guard troops. AP 'Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people,' Trump said Monday. 'And we're not going to let it happen anymore. We're not going to take it.' Trump said the crime crackdown — which he dubbed 'Liberation Day' for DC — would include the deployment of 700 National Guard members, with an additional 750 coming from GOP-led South Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia in the days to come. The move provoked swift condemnation from liberals, who rushed to left-leaning news outlets such as CNN and MSNBC to accuse the president of everything from 'federal overreach' to 'a power grab' to using the federal takeover as a ploy to get late powerful pedophile Jeffrey Epstein out of the headlines. Prominent Democrats including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York City and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took to social media to parrot the MPD's crime stats, which have been thrown into question pending the results of the Pulliam investigation. 'Violent crime in Washington, DD, is at a 30-year low,' Jeffries said Monday. 'Donald Trump has no basis to take over the local police department. And zero credibility on the issue of law and order. Get lost.' Clinton posted on X last week, 'As you listen to an unhinged Trump try to justify deploying the National Guard in DC, here's reality: Violent crime in DC is at a 30-year low.' The District of Columbia has the fourth-highest murder rate per capita in the US, according to a February report by Rochester Institute of Technology, seeing 265 murders — a 20-year high — in 2023 and 186 in 2024. Even with the 30.7% drop in homicides between 2023 and 2024 as recorded by the MPD, DC remained the fourth worst US city for murders per capita, edging out well-known homicide hot spots like Compton, California; Newark, New Jersey and even Chicago. In announcing the crackdown, President Trump noted that DC's murder rate even eclipses those of crime-challenged Mexico City and Bogota, Colombia. The MPD's data also asserts that violent crime in DC dropped 35% across the board between 2023 (5,345 reported incidents) and 2024 (3,469 incidents). Pemberton said during an interview on Fox Business that the police union 'completely agree[s]' with Trump's decision to federalize the city's police force. 'Crime in the district is out of control and something needs to be done about it. This concept that crime is down is really an old trope,' he said. 'They're using statistics in a way that makes it appear that crime is going down, but our rank-and-file officers know that we're going call to call to call for armed carjackings, stabbings, robberies, shootings, homicides and the crime isn't going anywhere.' The Post reached out to the union Sunday but did not immediately hear back.


New York Post
15 minutes ago
- New York Post
Lindsey Graham threatens bill designating Russia state sponsor of terror over kidnapping of Ukrainian children
President Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham threatened to champion bipartisan legislation designating Russia a state sponsor of terrorism over the kidnappings of Ukrainian children unless Moscow returns them. Throughout its brutal war on Ukraine, Russia has been accused of abducting over 20,000 Ukrainian children and putting some of them up for adoption, with the goal of raising them to be Russian. 'I intend to push the return of these children until I can't push anymore,' Graham vowed on Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures.' Advertisement 'If they do not return these children to Ukraine, the 19,000, then I'm going to push legislation to make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law,' the South Carolina Republican said, warning such a move would make Russia 'radioactive.' Estimates of the children abducted by Russia vary, with some Ukrainian officials pegging it closer to 35,000. 3 Sen. Lindsey Graham demanded that Russia release the thousands of Ukrainian children it has allegedly abducted. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement 3 Russian leader Vladimir Putin met with President Trump in Alaska on Friday to discuss the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin was vexed back in 2014 during Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, in which protesters ousted its pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych and shifted towards the West. Russia's demented kidnapping of Ukrainian children appears to be part of a broader strategy to remold Ukraine into a Russian sphere of influence over the long term. In some instances, the abducted children have been put on the battlefield to fight against Ukraine, according to top officials in Kyiv and nongovernmental organizations. Advertisement Ahead of President Trump's meeting with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin on Friday, the White House stressed that the mass abduction of Ukrainian children 'remains a concern.' Trump handed Putin a letter from the first lady pushing him to pursue peace and warning about the negative toll war has on children, without explicitly delving into the kidnapping issue. Graham argued that Russia deserves to be labeled a state sponsor of terrorism to tarnish its image abroad for its actions. 3 The issue of abducted Ukrainian children looms large over President Trump's efforts to secure peace in Ukraine. Advertisement 'They should be a state sponsor of terrorism, Russia, until they return the children. So any peace deal must include the return of the kidnapped children by Russia to Ukraine,' Graham said. 'If you don't do, that's not a just end of the war. And if Putin doesn't return these kids, he should be a state sponsor of terrorism designation under U.S. law. And that makes Russia radioactive.' Graham has also introduced a bipartisan sanctions bill alongside Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) So far, Trump has indicated he wants to act unilaterally to slap secondary tariffs and sanctions against Russia, rather than the bill. Graham and Blumenthal have some 85 co-sponsors. 'The way to end this war is to make Russia believe that, if they don't end it, we're going to destroy their fossil fuel economy,' Graham said. 'I'm going to let him [Trump] determine that,' Graham said about the timing of when that sanctions bill might get passed. 'I trust his judgment. I can't think of a better person to be in the room with Putin than President Trump.' Graham also said that he's 'cautiously optimistic we will get' to an end of the war. Trump is set to welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Monday and will also meet with a group of European leaders backing Ukraine.


New York Post
15 minutes ago
- New York Post
EU push to protect digital rules holds up trade statement with US: report
The European Union is trying to prevent the US from targeting the bloc's digital rules as both sides work through the final details of a delayed statement to formalize a trade deal reached last month, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. EU officials said disagreements over language relating to 'non-tariff barriers,' which the US said include the digital rules, are among the reasons for the hold-up of the statement, the newspaper said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The European Union, the White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Advertisement The statement had originally been expected days after the July announcement by EU President Ursula von der Leyen and President Trump, according to FT. The July deal imposed a 15% import tariff on most EU goods — half the initially threatened rate — and helped avert a broader trade war between the two allies, who together account for nearly a third of global trade. Advertisement The Trump administration says the EU's Digital Services Act stifles free speech and imposes costs on US tech firms. Getty Images The US wanted to keep the door open for possible concessions on the EU's Digital Services Act, which Washington says stifles free speech and imposes costs on US tech companies, according to FT, which added that the commission has said that relaxing these rules is a red line. The EU's DSA is a landmark law meant to make the online environment safer and fairer by compelling tech giants to do more to tackle illegal content, including hate speech and child sexual abuse material. The commission had anticipated that Trump would sign an executive order by this past Friday to cut tariffs on EU car exports to the US from 27.5% to 15%. However, a US official signaled that this would be delayed until the joint statement was finalized, according to FT.