No formal Trump-Putin meeting scheduled: White House

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not hold a formal meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit here in Vietnam, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday.

Citing “scheduling conflicts on both sides,” Sanders said no formal meeting will take place, but that an informal interaction between the two world leaders was likely to happen.

“Regarding a Putin meeting, there was never a meeting confirmed, and there will not be one that takes place due to scheduling conflicts on both sides,” Sanders said. “There is no formal meeting or anything scheduled for them.”

She added: “Now, they're going to be in the same place. Are they going to bump into each other and say hello? Certainly possible, and likely. But in terms of a scheduled, formal meeting, there's not one on the calendar and we don't anticipate that there will be one.”

Sanders' statement contradicts what the Russian side told reporters the day before.

The possibility of a Trump and Putin meeting has hung over the economic summit, with any interaction -- formal or informal -- threatening to overshadow the President's lengthy trip through Asia.