Moscow, July 20 (IANS): Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump discussed the adoption of Russian children by US citizens at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
"I confirm that this issue was discussed. Nothing to add," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Tass news agency.
The spokesman denied that the Dima Yakovlev Law, which bans US citizens from adopting Russian orphans, will be revoked, saying "no, it wasn't mentioned".
The law, which Putin signed in December 2012, was widely seen as retaliation to the US Magnitsky Act adopted in the end of 2012. The Magnitsky Act imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials believed to be responsible for the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow jail in 2009 after he accused officials of tax fraud.
The US media reported earlier this week that Putin and Trump had an undisclosed dinner in addition to a two-hour official meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
However, Peskov said that it was not a second, undisclosed meeting between the Russian and US Presidents, but just a talk between the leaders at a dinner for the delegations' heads.
The White House also said that there had been no second meeting and it was just a "brief" conversation over dinner.
"Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is sick," Trump tweeted on Wednesday. Shortly after that, he tweeted: "Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!"
Earlier Trump said in an interview with the New York Times that he had discussed the adoption of Russian children by US citizens with his Russian counterpart at the dinner in Hamburg. He noted that the talk lasted about 15 minutes and that First Lady Melania Trump had been seated next to Putin.
"The meal was going towards dessert," Trump said. "I went down just to say hello to Melania, and while I was there I said hello to Putin."
The Kremlin spokesman said there was no agreement so far for a new Putin-Trump meeting, but there was a chance for that.
