Kremlin officials said they have been “receiving contradictory signals” from the White House, but claimed the Russian leader would meet with his American counterpart “one way or another”.
However, the White House has denied the President will not have a meeting with the Russian leader away from the current summit discussions.
Both leaders are in Vietnam to attend the APEC talks in Danang to discuss trade with Asia-Pacific countries, and it was widely expected the pair would come face to face, even if just for an brief ’sideline’ meeting.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters today Putin would meet Trump on the sidelines of the summit “one way or another”.
But he later said the prospects of a meeting were unclear.
He said: “We don’t fully understand yet.
“But we are patiently continuing to work in order to come to an understanding.
“Both presidents are in town.
“One way or another they will cross paths.”
The already tense situation between the two nuclear powers has come under serious strain in recent months, with Russia’s top diplomat in the US recently saying relations had “hit an all time low”.
Last month, Russia announced it would be suing Mr Trump’s government over the “illegal seizure” of its diplomatic properties in the US.
American officials expelled 35 Russian diplomats and took control of the buildings in response to Moscow kicking out 455 embassy staff from embassies across Russia.
The diplomatic crisis comes despite repeated attempts by President Trump to improve links with Mr Putin’s government.
The pair reportedly enjoyed a positive first meeting at the G20 in July, and the US leader repeatedly praised the Russian leader during his 2016 election campaign.
Mr Trump has said it would “be a great thing if we could get along Russia”, though relations have since soured after US lawmakers approved fresh sanctions as punishment for Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.