Trump, Putin met twice at G20 summit

CGTN photo

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a second, previously undisclosed meeting at the G20 summit earlier this month in Hamburg, Germany, according to the Washington Post.

The one-hour meeting took place at a dinner for G20 leaders, according to the report. Halfway through the meal, Trump reportedly left his own seat to occupy a chair next to Putin. The talks were joined only by a Russian translator.

However, a White House official described this interaction as a "brief conversation" instead of a "second meeting."

The two men used Putin's Russian translator for their chat because the American translator did not speak Russian, the official said.

The official did not say when exactly the second meeting took place, how long it lasted, or what the two leaders discussed.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, the two leaders held a two-hour formal meeting, which was previously disclosed as their only one-on-one talks.

In the meeting that ran longer than either side had planned, the two leaders discussed a series of issues, including the alleged Russian meddling in the US election.