President Donald Trump is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during a G20 summit next week in Germany. | Getty Images Trump to meet Putin on sidelines of G20 gathering next week

President Donald Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a G20 summit next week in Germany, White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said on Thursday.

Trump and Putin will speak on the sidelines of the gathering, McMaster told reporters, rather than a more formal separate meeting. Speculation had mounted over whether the two would meet when both are in Hamburg, Germany. Trump has been criticized since his presidential campaign for comments of the Russian leader that seemed too flattering.


McMaster said there was no "specific agenda" for the meeting.