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Donald Trump welcomed Vladimir Putin to Alaska for talks on ending the Ukraine war (Image: Getty)
The White House has downplayed reports that papers relating to Donald Trump’s summit with Vladimir Putin were found by guests at an Alaskan hotel. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly dismissed claims the discovered documents represented a security breach, calling it “hilarious”.
Papers, with US State Department markings, were reportedly found in the business centre of the Hotel Captain Cook at around 9am local time on Friday, shortly before the two leaders met at a nearby military base in Anchorage. Eight pages had been found by three guests in one of the hotel’s public printers, it is said. The report claimed the papers revealed previously undisclosed and potentially sensitive details regarding the high-stakes meeting focused on ending the war in Ukraine.
The two leaders held a joint press conference after the summit in Alaska (Image: Getty)
According to NPR, which broke the story, the pages appeared to have been produced by US staff and accidentally left behind at the four-star hotel, which is 20 minutes from the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
The outlet reported the documents detailed precise locations and meeting times of the summit, as well as phone numbers of US government employees.
However, Ms Kelly, insisted it was not a security breach.
The lunch at the summit was apparently cancelled (Image: Getty)
In a statement, the White House’s Deputy Press Secretary said: “It’s hilarious that NPR is publishing a multi-page lunch menu and calling it a ‘security breach.’
“This type of self-proclaimed ‘investigative journalism’ is why no one takes them seriously and they are no longer taxpayer-funded thanks to President Trump.”
Two of the pages, according to NPR, described how a three-course lunch would be served at the summit and a menu indicated the meal was to be held "in honour of his excellency Vladimir Putin”.
A seating chart reportedly showed Mr Trump and Mr Putin sitting across from each other.
The meal, which was apparently cancelled, was expected to include a salad, steak and fish, plus crème brûlée for dessert, according to the papers.
It is claimed other documents listed the names and phone numbers of three US officials, plus the names of 13 US and Russian state leaders.
Jon Michaels, a professor of law at UCLA who lectures about national security, told NPR that the finding of the documents “strikes me as further evidence of the sloppiness and the incompetence of the administration”.
Mr Trump and Mr Putin failed to reach an agreement on how to end the war in Ukraine during their talks in Alaska.
The American President said they had “an extremely productive meeting”, with Mr Putin suggesting they could sit down again in Moscow.
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