(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump says he wants to meet with Vladimir Putin but Russia’s still waiting for an invitation, according to the Kremlin.

While the U.S. president announced Monday that he’ll meet the Russian leader at the Group of 20 summit in Japan next month, that’s not Russia’s understanding, said Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.

“So far, there are no agreements on starting preparations for a meeting,” Peskov told reporters Tuesday on a conference call. While improvements in U.S.-Russia relations can only take place through talks between the two leaders, “you’ll recall that it was Trump who decided to cancel the meeting last time,” he said.

The cautious response came as Putin prepares to meet U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday. They’ll discuss U.S.-Russia relations as well as tensions over Iran, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and the crises in Venezuela and Syria, Peskov said.

While the Kremlin wants to strengthen relations with Trump, particularly now that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into alleged collusion with Russia has concluded, it’s also wary of seeming too keen after repeated snubs from Washington.

Canceled Talks

Trump stunned Russian officials in November by scrapping a meeting with Putin at last year’s G-20 summit in Argentina with a Twitter announcement the day before the talks, blaming tensions over Russia’s capture of Ukrainian sailors. That followed the cancelation of talks planned for Paris during Nov. 11 commemorations for the centenary of the end of World War I.

While the Kremlin insisted at the time that Russia wasn’t offended by the two failed attempts within a month to meet, Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said Russia “won’t beg” the U.S. for talks and it was up to the Americans to make the next move.

Trump cited Russia’s failure to release Ukrainian ships and sailors seized during clashes in the Kerch Strait near Crimea as the reason for his refusal to meet Putin at the G-20 last year. The sailors remain in detention as Russia continues plans to prosecute them, said Nikolai Polozov, who’s leading their defense team.

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