Washington (CNN) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said a second meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin would be "all to the good."

Pompeo was asked about the White House announcement Thursday that Trump has invited Putin to Washington in the fall, outreach that took the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats by surprise and deepened criticism of the US President's approach to Moscow after his widely condemned appearance with Putin in Helsinki on July 16.

Asked what the US has to gain from a second meeting, Pompeo said he was "happy that the two leaders of two very important countries are continuing to meet. If that meeting takes place in Washington, I think it's all to the good." Pompeo was speaking at the United Nations in New York, where he was attending meetings on North Korea.

Coats recently pointed to Russia as the most aggressive foreign actor trying to disrupt the US digital infrastructure and said the warning signs are "blinking red" on cyber attacks in advance of November's midterm elections. Critics have questioned why Trump would invite the Russian leader to Washington during election season.

Trump has come under particular criticism for the Helsinki meeting because he met one-on-one with Putin for more than 90 minutes — a highly irregular situation. Usually presidents are accompanied by senior staff and notetakers, who keep a record of meetings, but Trump was only accompanied by an interpreter.

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