“We’re looking at the possibility,“ President Donald Trump said when asked whether he’s planning to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month. | Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP/Getty Images Trump 'looking at' Putin meeting as Bolton plans Moscow trip The president may meet with the ostracized Russian leader amid July visits with European allies wary of Putin. 
 
 President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday his interest in a July meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, reigniting alarm over Trump’s desire to befriend a Russian leader widely considered a menace to the U.S. and Europe. 
 
 “We’re looking at the possibility,” Trump told reporters when asked whether he’s planning to meet with Putin next month. 
 
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 In a sign of the seriousness of the planning, however, a White House spokesman also said Thursday that national security adviser John Bolton will visit Moscow next week to prepare for a meeting with Putin. A source familiar with the discussions said Trump will likely sit down with Putin just before or after an annual NATO summit in Brussels on July 11 and 12, and that Bolton would discuss possible meeting sites with Russian officials. 
 
 A summer summit with Putin would again bring the U.S. president face-to-face with the man intelligence officials blame for meddling in the 2016 election. The Russian also stands accused of approving the attempted murder with nerve agent of a former Russian spy in Great Britain earlier this year, and backs Syrian leader Bashar Assad, whose forces Trump has twice struck as punishment for their use of chemical weapons. 
 
 Russia experts say that Putin would see a meeting with Trump as a chance to shed western sanctions imposed over his aggression in Ukraine and U.S. election interference. 
 
 "This is really what Putin sees as the benefit of the 2016 presidential election. He is out of isolation. He is an equal," said Heather Conley, senior vice president for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 
 
 "Russia and the United States will be seen as equals at the summit and that is exactly what President Putin desires.” 
 
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 But while Trump has imposed economic sanctions on Moscow and expelled dozens of Russian diplomats from the U.S., he continues to seek friendlier ties with Putin, an authoritarian ruler who has undermined western democracies. Earlier this month, Trump called for Russia’s readmission to the G7 group of major economic powers, which expelled Russia after its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. 
 
 Senior administration officials have been quietly preparing for the potential meeting for weeks at the urging of the president, who is eager to have a formal sit-down with his Russian counterpart, according to a second person familiar with the planning. Trump has told aides he’s unconcerned with the optics of the meeting, the person added, despite Washington’s fixation with the federal investigations into alleged collusion between his presidential campaign and the Kremlin. 
 
 The timing could be particularly awkward given its proximity to the annual NATO gathering, where maintaining a stiff resolve against Russian aggression will undoubtedly be a key theme. As part of the trip, Trump is also scheduled to pay a July 13 state visit to Britain, where officials remain furious over the attempted murder of the former Russian intelligence agent Sergey Skripal in March. Skripal, once imprisoned by Russia as a British spy, fell into a coma along with his daughter after they came into contact with nerve agent in March at his home in Salisbury, England. U.S. and British officials have concluded that Russia was behind the operation. 
 
 Trump has long believed that the U.S. and Russia must establish a more cooperative relationship, however. Trump allies say the president believes the two countries can cooperate on issues like fighting terrorism in the Middle East, although many experts doubt that Moscow can be trusted as a strategic U.S. partner. 
 
 “On June 25-27, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton will meet with U.S. allies in London and Rome to discuss national security issues, andtravel to Moscow to discuss a potential meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin,” National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis said in a tweet following reports in Russian media that Bolton would make the trip to Moscow. 
 
 Bolton will be accompanied to Moscow by several White House staffers, including the national security council's director for Russia, Fiona Hill, and the NSC's director for southern Europe, Julia Friedlander. 
 
 Speculation about the location of a possible Trump-Putin summit has focused on Vienna, although some Russia-watchers have noted that the final match of the 2018 World Cup soccer tournament will be held on July 15 at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium — just two days after Trump is scheduled to stop in Britain. 
 
 Trump has pursued a meeting with Putin at least since an April phone call in which the president invited Putin to visit the White House; there are no signs that Trump will host Putin anytime soon. 
 
 The two leaders have met before, holding a pair of meetings last summer at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. Trump said at the time that he had pressed Putin on Russia’s 2016 election meddling. “I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election,” Trump said at the time. 
 
 Trump startled G7 leaders earlier this month with his call for Russia’s readmission to the group. Among the group’s members, only Italy’s new populist prime minister echoed that call. 
 
 After his meeting in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week, Trump explained his thinking on the subject. 
 
 “I think it’s better to have Russia in than out. Just like North Korea and everybody else, it’s much better to get along with them than if we don’t,” Trump told reporters. 
 
 Conley and other Russia experts say it’s far more complicated. They pointed to Trump’s fraying relationships with steadfast U.S. allies, which further deteriorated when the president reversed course and un-endorsed a joint statement backed by the other members of the G7 following a summit in Canada earlier this month. 
 
 “At a time when we are really challenging our allies very forcefully, we are meeting adversaries and potentially offering them concessions,” Conley said. “It’s as if he’s following President Putin’s playbook.” 
 
 Annie Karni contributed to this report. ||||| Washington (CNN) Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet soon, Russian and US officials said on Wednesday , setting up a fraught encounter just as Western alliances appear fractured. 
 
 Details of the summit, which were finalized on Wednesday during a meeting in Moscow between Putin and US national security adviser John Bolton, will be announced on Thursday. Helsinki, the capital of Finland, remains a leading site contender for the two leaders' meeting, people familiar with the planning say. Trump told reporters that Vienna, Austria, also remains an option. 
 
 "It's looking like we will be probably meeting sometime in the not too distant future. And I've said it from Day 1: getting along with Russia, with China and with everybody is a very good thing," Trump said in the Oval Office, where he was meeting his Portuguese counterpart. 
 
 "It's good for the world, it's good for us, it's good for everybody," the President said, brushing aside concerns the summit is coming at an inopportune moment. 
 
 The prospect of a meeting with Putin, which Trump first raised during a congratulatory phone call in March, has sent ripples of consternation through European capitals. Some leaders fear a campaign to isolate Moscow for its destabilizing activities could be quickly undone by an eager-to-please Trump. 
 
 But Bolton said in Moscow that face-to-face talks would benefit the world. 
 
 "Both President Trump and President Putin think they may be able to find constructive solutions," Bolton continued. "I'd like to hear someone say that's a bad idea." 
 
 He characterized the intended sit-down as not out of the ordinary for a US president, noting Trump's European counterparts regularly meet with Putin, despite their differences. 
 
 Trump will be in Europe in mid-July for a NATO meeting in Brussels, Belgium, and a working visit to the United Kingdom. Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday that the meeting with Putin would likely happen after those stops. 
 
 Both Bolton and his Russian counterparts declined to offer further details of the planned meeting, saying only they would be revealed on Thursday. 
 
 The meeting is bound to cause agita among European leaders who hope to isolate Putin amid persistent destabilization attempts. Bolton sought to ease some of those concerns on Wednesday, saying the US position is that joint sanctions on Russia should remain in place. 
 
 Likely to draw criticism 
 
 The summit is also likely to draw criticism from the US President's domestic critics, who accuse him of currying favor with Putin after Russia, according to US intelligence agencies, worked to swing the 2016 presidential election in Trump's favor. 
 
 Bolton insisted the opposite was true on Wednesday, indicating it was likely Trump would raise the election meddling issue with Putin. 
 
 "People have said or implied over time that a meeting between President Trump and President Putin would somehow prove some nexus between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, which is complete nonsense," he said. 
 
 Trump himself was less committal. He said the topics of discussion were broad, but listed certain items likely on the agenda. 
 
 "I think we'll be talking about Syria, I think we'll be talking about Ukraine, I think we'll be talking about many other subjects and we'll see what happens," he said. 
 
 Asked whether election meddling would arise, Trump turned to his Portuguese counterpart and said: "You never know with meetings, right? But I think a lot of good things can come from meetings with people." 
 
 NATO tensions 
 
 As the White House works to arrange the Putin meeting, Trump has renewed his censure of NATO on the campaign trail ahead of his upcoming visit to the defense bloc's headquarters. 
 
 The parallel activities will collide in two weeks on European trip intended to shore up alliances but more likely to reveal their strain. After this month's G7 meeting ended in recriminations between allies, there is little expectation among European and US diplomats of an easygoing time. 
 
 "It's the uncertainty," one western official said in explaining European concerns at a Trump-Putin meeting. "No one knows what he'll walk out saying." 
 
 On Tuesday, a senior US official said Helsinki, the capital of Finland, had emerged as a strong possibility to host the summit. The Austrian capital Vienna had also been previously mentioned as a venue. Putin is operating on a strict schedule; his country hosts the World Cup final on July 15. 
 
 NATO members have pressed for the Putin meeting to occur after the NATO summit, one White House official said, citing concerns Trump might agree to something with Putin that they are then forced to go along with. 
 
 History repeating 
 
 European officials are watching with chagrin as a dynamic evident during Trump's visit this month to the G7 in Canada repeats itself. 
 
 Ahead of that summit, held at a riverside hotel in rural Quebec, Trump questioned whether he really needed to attend. On the evening before his departure, he engaged in a Twitter spat with his French and Canadian counterparts. He arrived late, missing a planned meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, and departed early, leaving other leaders to discuss oceans and the environment without him. 
 
 At the same time, he appeared eager for his second stop in Singapore, the site of his highly anticipated sit-down with Kim Jong Un. He emerged from those talks to announce he was canceling joint US-South Korea military exercises, which he deemed provocative. 
 
 Upon his return, he snidely questioned the intentions of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau -- who he refers to simply as "Justin" -- while repeatedly marveling at his chemistry with the North Korean dictator, who he now addresses as "Chairman Kim." 
 
 In Europe, Trump will again come across US allies concerned about deep strains in their relationships before proceeding onward to a summit with an adversary -- one he's been intent on convening, even as some of his aides question the timing and wisdom of such an encounter. 
 
 Trump has displayed a more conciliatory attitude toward Russia in recent weeks, including urging G7 leaders in Canada to reinstate Putin in their group after he was expelled for Russia's 2014 incursion into Ukraine. In his March phone call, Trump discarded his aides' advice in congratulating Putin on his re-election, despite widespread accusations of voter fraud. He even raised the idea of hosting the event at the White House. 
 
 "It's bad for allies if the atmospherics with Putin are much better than at NATO. Bad message," said one person familiar with the discussions of the Trump-Putin meeting. "If Putin is all smiles, and NATO all snarls, it'll be a terrible signal." 
 
 Speaking to CNN's Elise Labott on Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laid out a possible agenda for a meeting between the two men. 
 
 "Whether it's the battlefield in Syria, the situation in Ukraine, the Russians' active measures, I am sure there are many topics that President Trump and President Putin will discuss and each of them is important to trying to put the relationship back in place with a common set of understandings," Pompeo said. 
 
 Seeking better Russian relations 
 
 JUST WATCHED Trump: It is possible I will meet with Putin Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump: It is possible I will meet with Putin 01:31 
 
 Trump has sought better relations with Russia, even as US investigations probe Moscow's attempts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election. While he agreed to expel Russian diplomats from the US as punishment for Moscow's alleged poisoning of a former Russian spy, he initially resisted the move and later vented that he felt pressured to act. 
 
 Trump and Putin last greeted each other in person on the sidelines of a leaders' summit in Vietnam in November. That followed a formal sit-down meeting in Hamburg during last year's G20 summit. 
 
 At NATO headquarters in Brussels, talk is less about warming ties with Russia than it is about applying further pressure. Most European leaders have insisted a sanctions regime remain in place as long as Russia maintains its annexation of Crimea. 
 
 Leaders hope to agree on reinforcing NATO's posture on Europe's eastern flank to deter Russian aggression, a campaign supported and increased by US Defense Secretary James Mattis. Some European officials fear Trump's overture to Putin could result in the pressure fading. 
 
 NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said this week he wasn't concerned about a Trump-Putin meeting. 
 
 "A meeting between President Trump and President Putin will be in line with NATO policies because NATO believes in dialogue with Russia," he said at a meeting of European defense ministers. "We need to talk to Russia, partly to try to improve our relationship with Russia, but even if that's not possible to improve the relationship in the near future, it is important to manage a difficult relationship to Russia. Meaning that we have higher tensions, we have more military presence, more military exercises close to our borders." 
 
 Inside NATO's sprawling new glass building, which Trump has insulted, the President will find himself again face-to-face with the allies he spurned in Canada, including Trudeau, Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He attended a similar summit a year ago, shocking observers when he failed to mention an endorsement of NATO's Article 5, the common defense provision that maintains an attack on one partner is an attack on all. 
 
 Afterward, Trump and his aides insisted he supported the provision. But his visit was colored by a near-hostile attitude, including pushing aside the prime minister of Montenegro. When it was his turn to make remarks, Trump lectured leaders on their countries' defense budgets. 
 
 There's little to indicate he'll change course this year; indeed, NATO's leadership has credited Trump with spurring members to spend more. But Trump has remained adamant that certain countries aren't spending enough, regularly singling out Germany for not meeting its commitment. 
 
 "Look at NATO," Trump said during a campaign rally in South Carolina on Monday. "It's all wonderful and we like to help out. But it helps them -- they're in Europe! It helps them a lot more than it helps us. We're very far away!" 
 
 Trump's indignation at European defense spending is wrapped up in his larger view of the continent as a drain on the United States, which includes his harsh stance on trade. He's promised to slap new tariffs on European autos, escalating a tit-for-tat trade battle that's already led some US companies such as Harley-Davidson to announce they're moving production overseas. 
 
 And he's bemoaned Europe's handling of migrants, using the tenuous situation there as rationale for his own hardline tactics. 
 
 "They have been overrun. And, frankly, a lot of those countries are not the same places anymore," he said in the Cabinet Room on Tuesday. "And I'm sad to say it, and I said that at the G7. They are not the same places." 
 
 New alliances 
 
 JUST WATCHED Trump meets with Theresa May in Davos Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump meets with Theresa May in Davos 02:44 
 
 During his meetings in Europe this week, Bolton has sought out those types of viewpoints, including during meetings in Rome. The National Security Council tweeted a photo of Bolton smiling during a meeting with Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who has taken heat recently for his comments on migrants. 
 
 In recently unearthed footage, Salvini is seen calling for a "mass cleansing, street by street, piazza by piazza, neighborhood by neighborhood" of migrants, decrying the situation as "out of control." 
 
 An admirer of Putin and an avid Twitter user, Salvini is the type of European leader that Trump and his allies have worked to cultivate since taking office, often to the dismay of more establishment politicians. In the UK, where Trump will travel following his stop in Brussels, the President has been a supporter of pro-Brexit politician Nigel Farage, even suggesting he would make a strong British ambassador in Washington. 
 
 Sentiments like that -- along with his criticism of London's mayor, his tweets about a bombing in London and his retweets of an extreme right-wing British group -- have garnered Trump widespread unpopularity in Britain. British Prime Minister Theresa May, ever wishful of improving her ties with Trump, hopes his visit in July won't be overshadowed by an immigration crisis in the US or fresh controversy from NATO. 
 
 She also hopes mass protests planned for London won't impede her welcoming abilities. Already, planners have said tens of thousands of people are expected to march in the capital. Protests are also expected at Trump's golf course in Scotland, where he's expected to spend at least a night. 
 
 Much of the President's visit to the UK will occur outside of London, people familiar with the planning say, including a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle and bilateral talks with May at the prime minister's country estate Chequers. 
 
 He's not, for now, planning to address Parliament -- perhaps a disappointment for demonstrators planning to float a 20-foot helium balloon in the shape of a Trump-faced orange baby nearby. ||||| Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. National security adviser John Bolton greet each other as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, center, looks at them during the meeting in the Kremlin... (Associated Press) 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. National security adviser John Bolton greet each other as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, center, looks at them during the meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 27, 2018. Bolton is meeting Putin for talks intended to set the... (Associated Press) 
 
 MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin (all times local): 
 
 3:15 p.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump is repeating his denials of any Russian election interference as details are released on his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 
 
 The White House and the Kremlin announced Thursday that the two leaders would meet in Helsinki on July 16. 
 
 Ahead of the announcement, Trump tweeted, "Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!" 
 
 Trump has continually parroted the Kremlin's denial of interference in the 2016 elections. That move has put him out of step with the findings of the U.S. intelligence community and nearly all Democrats and Republicans in Congress who say there is clear evidence of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. 
 
 ___ 
 
 3 p.m. 
 
 The Kremlin and the White House say the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will take place in Helsinki on July 16. 
 
 The synchronized announcement comes a day after Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton held talks with Russian officials in Moscow to lay the groundwork for the summit. 
 
 Trump said Wednesday that "getting along with Russia and with China and with everybody is a very good thing." He said they would discuss Syria, Ukraine and "many other subjects." 
 
 The Russian leader had two brief meetings with Trump on the sidelines of international summits last year, but plans for a full-fledged summit have been thrown back amid the U.S. investigations into alleged collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:05 p.m. 
 
 Moscow says the top Russian and U.S. diplomats are likely to meet to set the stage for a summit between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump. 
 
 Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is likely to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo within two weeks. Ryabkov said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies Thursday that Moscow already has made a proposal regarding the specifics of the meeting and is waiting for Washington's answer. 
 
 Trump told reporters that he'll probably meet with Putin during a July trip to Europe. He mentioned Helsinki, Finland, and Vienna, Austria, as possible venues, adding that he would be receiving an update from his adviser, John Bolton, who visited Moscow Wednesday to lay the groundwork for the summit.
– President Trump may have another high-profile summit to attend in the near future. National security adviser John Bolton will travel to Moscow next week to discuss a possible meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin, reports Politico. A National Security Council spokesperson tweeted that Bolton will first meet with US allies in London and Rome to talk about national security issues, then head to Russia "to discuss a potential meeting" between the two world leaders. Bolton's trip is June 25-27. A Kremlin spokesman confirmed Bolton's visit, but he wouldn't confirm Russian media reports that Putin and Trump would get together in Vienna in July, reports the New York Times. "When and if we are ready, we will make the announcement," he said. Trump has publicly floated the idea of a meeting this summer, and Putin has said he willing to accommodate "as soon as the American side is ready." Trump will travel to Brussels for a NATO summit July 11-12, and the meeting with Putin could take place before that, perhaps in Vienna, reports Reuters. If the summit does take place, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg is fine with that, reports the Times of London. "To meet President Putin is not in any way contradicting NATO policy," he told reporters.