Russia Seeks to Add Trade and Arms Control Into Trump-Putin Talks

A day ahead of the meeting between President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, the Kremlin on Thursday signaled that apart from Ukraine, it was also interested in discussing other subjects, like economic links and nuclear arms.

Remarks by Mr. Putin and his foreign policy aide highlighted how, when dealing with Washington, Moscow has tried to dilute discussions about ending the fighting in Ukraine by packaging them together with other bilateral issues. In particular, Russia has focused on the prospect of discussing arms control and restoring economic ties with the United States.

On Thursday, Mr. Putin convened top officials at the Kremlin to brief them about the next day’s meeting. In his opening remarks, Mr. Putin said he believed that the United States was making “quite energetic efforts to stop the fighting, end the crisis, and reach agreements of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.”

He added that an agreement on Ukraine “would create long-term conditions of peace between our countries, in Europe, and in the world as a whole, if we reach agreements in the next stages in the field of strategic offensive arms control.”

Because of increased hostility between the two countries and the power disparity after the Soviet collapse, the arms-control regime that anchored relations between Moscow and Washington during the Cold War has significantly weakened. At the beginning of August, Russia said that it would no longer abide by a defunct treaty prohibiting the deployment of intermediate-range missiles.

The nuclear arms reduction treaty, signed in 2011 during a brief thaw between the two countries, is set to expire next February.

Earlier on Thursday, Yuri Ushakov, Mr. Putin’s foreign policy aide, briefed reporters about Russia’s preparations for the meeting. He said it was “obvious to everyone that the central topic will be the settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”

“Buf, of course broader issues of ensuring peace and security, as well as current and most pressing international and regional issues, will also be touched upon,” Mr. Ushakov said.

“An exchange of views is expected on the further development of bilateral cooperation, including in the trade and economic sphere,” he said, adding: “I would like to note that this cooperation has a huge and, unfortunately, untapped potential.”

Trade between Russia and Ukraine has never been significant for the two countries’ economies and has been reduced to minuscule numbers over the past years. But the countries have cooperated in sensitive fields like oil extraction and the aerospace industry.

Mr. Ushakov also announced which Russian officials would be part of the delegation at the meeting. The list included Mr. Ushakov himself, alongside Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, but also the finance minister, Anton Siluanov; Kirill Dmitriev, Mr. Putin’s envoy on foreign investment and economic cooperation; and the defense minister, Andrei Belousov.

The inclusion of Mr. Belousov and Mr. Dmitriev in the Russian delegation was another indication that the Kremlin hoped to discuss economic matters at the summit.

Over the past months, the Kremlin has been highlighting the different Russian and U.S. approaches to ending the fighting in Ukraine.

In June, Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said that Russia wanted to discuss relations with the United States separately from efforts to end the war in Ukraine, but that the Americans wanted to discuss the situation in Ukraine first.

As talks linger, Russia and Ukraine continue to exchange drone strikes.

On Thursday, Ukrainian drones hit two Russian cities, injuring at least 17 people, according to local officials. A drone struck apartment buildings in Rostov-on-Don, injuring 13 people, the acting regional governor said. At least four civilians were injured in the Belgorod region, near the border with Ukraine, according to the local governor.