WASHINGTON -- U.S. national security adviser John Bolton is heading to Europe on a trip that will eventually take him to Moscow amid expectations he will clear the way for a July meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Bolton is scheduled to first meet with U.S. allies on June 25-26 in London and Rome before moving on to Moscow on June 27.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a television interview over the weekend that Trump is likely to meet Putin "in the not-too-distant future."
The location of such a meeting has not been set, although officials have said it could take place in Vienna.
An Austrian newspaper said teams from the United States and Russia were already in Vienna preparing for a July 15 meeting between the two leaders.
Trump is scheduled to attend a NATO summit in Brussels on July 11-12 and then visit Britain on July 13.
If Putin were to meet Trump on July 15, he would have to quickly return to Russia to attend the final of the World Cup in Moscow, which starts at 5 p.m. on that day.
Russian state-owned TASS news agency on June 24 said the Kremlin was not ready to comment on a potential Trump-Putin summit.
"We are not ready to provide this information," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "We will inform you as soon as we are ready."
Trump and Putin have met twice on the sidelines of international summits and they have spoken at least eight times by telephone.
The U.S. president said in March he would meet Putin soon, but since then ties between Washington and Moscow have further deteriorated over the conflict in Syria and the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain, which the West blames on Moscow.
Democrats and some Republicans have accused Trump of being too soft on Russia. The president made clear during his campaign and into his presidency that he seeks better relations with Russia and Putin and has often heaped praise on the Russian leader.
