Putin: The meeting itself and its location were proposed by the US

Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the Russian Geographical Society Congress. Making statements before the congress, Putin touched upon the summit planned to be held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, which US President Donald Trump canceled, saying, "In our last phone call, both the meeting itself and its location were proposed by the US. Of course, I approved this proposal and presented my own ideas. Naturally, I said that we needed to prepare well for our meeting. It would have been a mistake to underestimate this meeting between me and the US President and to leave the meeting without achieving the expected results."

Stating that the cancellation of the meeting could have been Trump's own decision, Putin said, "Most likely, Trump decided to postpone the meeting."

Touching upon the US's new sanctions decisions against Russia, Putin said, "The new US sanctions are an attempt to put pressure on Russia. The new sanctions will not have a significant impact on the Russian economy."

Criticizing the US side's sanctions decisions, especially those imposed on Russian oil companies, Putin said, "Russia's contribution to the global energy balance is very large. Disrupting the global energy balance is not in the interest of those who try to do so. The meeting held with Trump (the last phone call) concerned the impact of oil shipments from Russia on world prices."

Stating that if Ukraine carries out attacks on Russia's interior regions with long-range weapons, the response will be very harsh, Putin said, "The response Russia will give to attacks on its own territory with Tomahawk missiles will be serious and even surprising. This is an attempt to escalate the situation. However, if such weapons attack Russian territory, the reaction will be very serious, even overwhelming. They should think about this."