"After [the APEC] meeting, the president said he wanted to invite Putin to the White House," an anonymous official speaking to The Washington Post said. "We ignored it," he added.
According to the official, top aides in the president's National Security Council, opposed to the idea of a summit, didn't consider setting up the meeting to be a direct order.
"They decided: Let's wait and see if he raises it again," the official said.
Other officials told the newspaper that the State Department recognizes the possible value of a meeting to try to resolve long-standing differences on issues like Ukraine, Syria, cybersecurity, and alleged interference in foreign elections. However, some of these officials also said that a summit would be premature amid differences on smaller issues, such as the status of the Russian diplomatic property seized in the US earlier this year over alleged Russian meddling in the US presidential election in 2016.
Last week, Putin called Trump a "thoughtful man," and said that he has "reason to believe that dialogue can be constructive." According to Putin, a full-fledged meeting with Trump has not taken place due to the "domestic political struggle" in the US.
