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U.S. government officials are trying to curbPresident Donald Trumps enthusiasmaboutmeetingRussian counterpart Vladimir Putinat the upcoming G20 summit in Germany, the Associated Press reported.

Trump has not metPutin since being elected last year, despite his claim thathe could meet the Russian leader even before being inaugurated. Now heis keen to hold a full bilateral meeting, two U.S. administration officials, one current and one former,told AP. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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Such a meeting would involve agreeing on a designated space for it, allowing media accessand other diplomatic protocols involved in meetings between two heads of state.

Due to ongoing allegations by the U.S. intelligence community of Russian interference in the U.S. election and a scandal about possible collusion within Trumps team, not everyone in the White House thinks such a meeting is prudent.

State Department and National Security Council officials have asked Trump to consider a more low-profile introduction to the Russian president and perhaps avoid an extended conversation altogether, AP reported.

Among the recommendations are a brief and informal pull-aside on the summits sidelines,and a meeting ofU.S. and Russian delegations for strategic stability talksa format which may or may not involve heads of state.

There is no official confirmationon Moscows or Washingtons side that a meeting in any form has been agreed upon, butPutin and Trump will both attend the summit.

Commenting on the AP report, Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that as far as a possible meeting was concerned, the protocol side of it is secondary. He let on little about Moscow'sawareness of Washingtons ambivalence toward the scale of the meeting but said that in any case there will be a chance to meet. The two governments had not yet ironed out further details about a meeting, he added.

Russia has vociferously denied involved in the U.S. election, and a visibly irate Putin accused U.S. journalists of hysteria on the subject earlier this month.

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Donald Trump Is So Excited About Meeting Vladimir Putin That US Officials Are Worried - Newsweek