The White House announced that the summit will take place next year instead, following criticism from US Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday.

“The president believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch-hunt is over, so we’ve agreed that it will be after the first of the year,” National Security Advisor, John Bolton said, referring to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Despite the fact that Mueller did not set a specific deadline for his investigation, Trump’s legal team has been pushing him into ending the “witch-hunt,” which he has been working on for almost a year now.

Delaying the summit between the two leaders might help with avoiding confrontation that could ruin Republican candidates’ reputation and risk their chances in the November elections.

With that being said, Trump and Putin might cross paths during upcoming international summits before next year, including the annual UN General Assembly meeting scheduled to take place in New York this September.