US President Donald Trump met on Monday Russian President Vladimir Putin on a “very constructive” day in Helsinki during which they discussed a several wide-ranging issues, from Moscow’s meddling in US elections to the crisis in Syria and Iran’s regional threat.
“I addressed directly (the question of) Russian interference in our elections. We spent a great deal of time talking about it. Putin feels strongly about the issue and has an interesting idea,” he told reporters after one-on-one talks.
Asked if he trusted US intelligence agencies, which concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, Trump said he had been told by his CIA chief that Russia was to blame, but he was not certain.
“I don’t see any reason why it would be” Russia, Trump said. “President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
The Russian president, for his part, said: “I had to repeat what I’ve said before, that the Russian state has never interfered and has no intention to interfere.”
“The talks have reflected our mutual desire to improve the situation ... to restore trust,” he said, referring to global security, economic issues and ecological risks.
On global affairs, the two leaders addressed terrorism and the ISIS threat.
“We will maintain open communication between our security agencies to fight this global menace,” stressed Trump.
“We also discussed at length the crisis in Syria. Cooperation between our countries has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives,” he added. “(I) made clear we will not allow Iran to benefit from our successful campaign against ISIS.”
Putin said: “The task of establishing peace and reconciliation in Syria could be the first showcase example of successful joint work.”
Trump said that the national security councils of the US and Russia “will meet to follow up all on (everything we discussed) today. We have made the first steps towards a brighter future, grounded on cooperation and peace.”
“Mr. President (Putin) I want to thank you for advancing open dialogue between Russia and the United States ... for the greater good of all.
“This was a very constructive day, the few hours we spent together today. It is in the interest of both our countries to continue this conversation and we will meet again in the future,” Trump said.
Putin echoed his sentiment, saying: “Negotiations with Trump took place in an open and constructive atmosphere, I find them rather successful and useful.”
He said the meeting marked the first steps to restore “an acceptable level of trust and go back to previous level of interaction on all mutual interest issues”.
He remarked, however: “No one should trust anyone. He (Trump) is defending US interests, I am defending interests of the Russian Federation. We have matching interests, we are looking for common points.”
