The negotiations between Russia and the United States in Budapest were initiated by the American side, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in response to journalists’ questions, according to TASS.

“During our last phone conversation, it was the American side that proposed both the meeting itself and its location. I agreed, shared my thoughts on the matter, and noted that such meetings must, of course, be well-prepared. Both I and the U.S. president would have acted wrongly if we had approached the meeting lightly and then parted ways without achieving the expected result,” Putin emphasized, commenting on U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent statement about canceling the planned Russian-American talks in Budapest.