Donald Trump says he would host Putin at White House, but 'now is not the right time'

Mr Trump's comments came aboard Air Force One (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

Donald Trump says that he would invite Vladimir Putin to the White House, but that right now isn't the right time.

"I don't think this is the right time, but the answer is yes I would," Mr Trump said on Air Force One during a flight to Paris to celebrate Bastille Day with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The statement comes following an extended meeting between the two world leaders at the G20 summit last week, where they met for the first time in person. Their meeting on the sidelines of that summit was only supposed to last a half hour but ended up running well over two hours long.

That meeting, which Mr Trump said went very well, just months after the US President said that relations with Russia may have reached an all time low. Those comments came after Mr Trump green lit launching missiles in an attack on Syrian military targets in response to alleged chemical weapons attacks from the Syrian government. Moscow and Washington have disagreed in Syria with respects to whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should remain in power, which the Russian government favours. The US government has called for the removal of Mr Assad.

Mr Trump and Mr Putin reportedly discussed a range of issues during their meeting in Hamburg last week, including cyber security concerns, terrorism, and a Syrian cease fire. Mr Trump, notably, said that he had pressed Mr Putin on Russia's reported meddling in the 2016 election - which has resulted in US sanctions on the Eurasian country - but that Mr Putin plainly denied those claims.

After landing in France, Mr Trump praised the cease fire he helped broker during a joint press briefing with Mr Macron. He acknowledged that the agreement had only lasted five days so far, but that he had hopes that it would continue.

Mr Putin appears content with the cease fire agreement. During a press conference following his meeting with Mr Trump, the Russian president praised his American counterpart, saying that he is much sharper in person than his TV personality would lead people to believe. He then indicated that he felt the US had reached a "pragmatic" place in its view on Russia.

Mr Trump's relationship with Russia and its President has been the source of both fascination and scandal. The US President repeatedly stated on the 2016 campaign trail that he believed that improving the American relationship with Russia would be a great improvement on the status quo, but then later failed to fix the relationship in the first few months of his campaign.

And, beyond the official international diplomacy, Mr Trump's 2016 campaign has been under scrutiny by federal investigators for potential contacts with the Russian government. A recent email posted on Twitter by Donald Trump Jr showed that at least three Trump insiders - including Mr Trump Jr himself - had met with a Kremlin linked attorney who promised damaging information from the Russian government on Hillary Clinton. It was the latest in a series of scandalous revelations that critics contend show collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Whether Mr Trump will be able to build upon the apparent good will between him and his Russian counterpart remains to be seen. Both of his predecessors attempted to thaw relations between Washington and the Kremlin, only to find that doing so was a bit beyond their reach. That includes an attempt by the administration of former President Barack Obama in which former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton literally brought out a red "reset" button to symbolise a reset on relations between the two countries.