White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that ‘‘a number of potential venues, including the White House,’’ were discussed for the summit.

After the March 20 phone call — in which Trump congratulated Putin for a reelection victory in a vote widely criticized as not free and fair — Trump said the two leaders had discussed plans for a possible meeting.

MOSCOW — President Trump proposed meeting Vladimir Putin at the White House in a recent phone call, the Kremlin said Monday, fueling a controversy over Trump’s friendly tone toward the Russian leader amid mounting tensions with the West.


A Kremlin aide, Yury Ushakov, disclosed the invitation in comments to Russian journalists Monday. But he added that no preparations have been made, according to Russian news agencies.

Relations between Moscow and the West have been in a free fall since the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain on March 4. British authorities have linked the attack to Russia, setting in motion reciprocal actions that have included expulsions of Russian diplomats from the United States, European Union countries, and elsewhere.

‘‘I hope that the Americans will not back away from their own proposal to discuss the possibility of holding a summit,’’ Ushakov said, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.

‘‘When our presidents spoke on the phone, it was Trump who proposed holding the first meeting in Washington, in the White House,’’ he said.

Ushakov’s claim adds new detail to a presidential phone call that drew broad criticism last month. Trump congratulated Putin even though many international observers described Putin’s reelection as a sham, and despite the advice of White House advisers that he not offer congratulations.

‘‘As the president himself confirmed on March 20, hours after his last call with President Putin, the two had discussed a bilateral meeting in the ‘not-too-distant future’ at a number of potential venues, including the White House,’’ Sanders said Monday after Ushakov’s comments. ‘‘We have nothing further to add at this time.’’


After the phone call, Trump also drew condemnation at home and abroad for failing to raise the poisoning of the former spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter. The Kremlin denies it had anything to do with the nerve-agent attack. Skripal and his daughter Yulia remain hospitalized.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have taken a further plunge since that phone call, as the West has sought to punish Russia for the Skripal poisoning.

The United States and Russia traded diplomat expulsions and consulate closings, while US allies that expelled Russian diplomats in solidarity also faced in-kind retaliation from Moscow.

Relations between Washington and Moscow also have been strained by other issues, including the ongoing investigation of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and intelligence reports suggesting that such interference might continue in the midterm election season.

Given the worsening environment, Kremlin aide Ushakov said Monday, ‘‘it is, of course, difficult to discuss the possibility of holding a summit,’’ Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

‘‘I hope that the situation will allow us to discuss this issue,’’ Ushakov added, referring to the planning for a Trump-Putin summit, according to Interfax. ‘‘We believe that it is rather important and necessary for both countries and for the entire international community.’’

Since Trump became president, the two have met at the Group of 20 summit in Germany last July and, briefly, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam in November.


Trump drew criticism when he met at the White House with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last May, a day after he fired former FBI director James Comey, who was leading an investigation into the president’s links to Russia.

The White House didn’t let US reporters witness the meeting, which was also attended by Russia’s then US ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.