WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin for a visit to Washington in early 2019.

The invitation was announced Friday by National Security Advisor John Bolton during a news conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, just days after meeting with Putin and other Kremlin officials in Moscow to discuss the U.S. withdrawing from a Cold-War era nuclear weapons treaty.

"We have invited President Putin to Washington after the first of the year for basically a full day of consultations," Bolton said. "What the schedule of that is, we do not quite know yet."

It's unclear whether Putin has accepted the invitation.

The meeting in Washington was brought up after President Donald Trump's controversial summit with Putin in Helsinki. The idea was put on hold due to the special counsel investigation examining Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by the president.

Trump's performance and comments at the summit were heavily criticized, including by members of the president's own party. Many said Trump appeared to side with Putin's denials over the conclusions of U.S. intelligence officials who say Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Trump.

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It would be Putin's first trip to the U.S. since 2015 when he met with President Barack Obama. It's unclear whether Trump would visit with Putin in the White House.

Putin has not been to the White House since George W. Bush was president.

Ahead of the invitation in Washington, both Putin and Trump will be in Paris next month for a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

Trump said Tuesday he will "probably" meet with Putin during the visit.

"We may – it's being discussed right now," the president told reporters at the White House. "I think we probably will."

The pair would likely talk about Trump's recent decision to pull the United States out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF.

Trump said Russia is not abiding by the treaty, and the United States needs to build up its nuclear arsenal to meet the threats of the Russians and the Chinese. Russia, on the other hand, has contended it's in compliance with the accord.

Contributing: David Jackson