John Swinney is to meet with Donald Trump when the American president visits his Scottish golf courses later this month.
The meeting will take place despite previous criticism of Mr Trump by the First Minister, including in March, when he said an official state visit should be cancelled over Mr Trump's position on Ukraine.
Mr Trump is expected to visit properties in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire at the end of July, ahead of the state visit, which will take place in September.
The personal trip is expected to last several days and it has been reported that up to 5000 police officers will be required for security purposes.
A Scottish Government spokesperson has said: "There are plans for the First Minister to meet with the President when he is in Scotland. It is important that the opportunity to promote the interests of Scotland is taken during this visit.
Mr Swinney hit out at Mr Trump in March after the president clashed with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a tense Oval Office summit.
On March 2nd, he tweeted: "Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity must be defended. If President Trump won’t stand with us on this, a U.K. state visit shouldn’t be on the table.
In an interview with the Sunday Mail, Mr Swinney had said: "If the US withdraws support from Ukraine, abandoning an ally and betraying democracy, the State Visit cannot go ahead. That is simply unimaginable."
"If, despite what President Trump said, a state visit can help solidify US support for Ukraine; if the US maintains its support for Ukraine, then perhaps it can proceed. Right now, given shocking events, however, it is hard to believe the visit can happen."
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The news comes after Downing Street has confirmed Sir Keir Starmer will also meet with Mr Trump during the visit.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The White House has confirmed that President Trump will be making a private visit to Scotland later this month.
“Given he is visiting in a private capacity, there will not be a formal bilateral but the Prime Minister is pleased to take up the president’s invite to meet during his stay.”
In a meeting with NATO bosses today, Mr Trump announced plans to enact "very severe" economic sanctions on Russia if the country does not agree to a deal to end the war in 50 days.
"We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days," he said.
The president has also agreed to send 'top of the line' weapons to Ukraine, by way of NATO.
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