Donald Trump sat down with Vladimir Putin for several minutes of conversation at the end of an evening event at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November, with no translator or note-taker from the US side to record the dialogue between the leaders, according to people who had direct knowledge of the encounter or were briefed on it.
The discussions between the US and Russian presidents occurred at the 19th-century Colón theatre in the Argentine capital, as world leaders and their spouses or guests were streaming out of the building.
Mr Trump was accompanied by Melania Trump, his wife, but no staff, while Mr Putin was flanked by his translator. The four of them sat at a table and were among the last to leave.
The White House has acknowledged the two leaders met in Buenos Aires, after Mr Trump cancelled formal bilateral talks following Russia’s November attack on three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Azov Sea.
Mr Trump’s aides characterised the Putin encounter as one of several “informal” conversations that Mr Trump had with his counterparts that evening. The accounts of people familiar with the conversation said it appeared longer and more substantive than the White House has acknowledged.
According to a Russian government official’s account, the two leaders spoke for about 15 minutes about a number of foreign policy issues, including the Azov Sea incident, and the conflict in Syria. They also discussed when they could have a formal meeting, the official said.
Mr Trump explained that a full meeting with Mr Putin was impossible at the time, and the Russian leader responded by saying he “was not in a hurry” and remained ready to meet when it suited Mr Trump best, the Russian official said.
The US state department declined to discuss any details of the meeting, referring questions to the White House. A White House spokesman declined to comment beyond previous acknowledgments that a brief encounter occurred.
The decision to meet Mr Putin and potentially discuss sensitive matters without advisers or a White House translator just two months ago could trigger new alarm bells about Mr Trump and his relationship with the Kremlin at a time when Robert Mueller, the special counsel, is still investigating his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia.
This month, The Washington Post reported that Mr Trump had sought to hide details of previous conversations with Mr Putin, including at the G20 summit in Hamburg in 2017, frustrating some top officials.