Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin meet in Helsinki, promise fresh start for troubled US-Russia ties
The US and Russian presidents came out of their summit in Helsinki expressing a desire to talk again on global challenges, after discussing an array of issues from Syria, Ukraine and China to trade tariffs and the size of their nuclear arsenals.
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Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a historic summit on Monday, vowing their determination to forge a reset of troubled relations between the world's greatest nuclear powers. Reuters
The pair opened their long-awaited summit with a wink and slouch, respectively, then talked one-on-one behind closed doors for two hours before the American leader declared their meeting was off to a "very good start." Trump received a football of the FIFA World Cup in the news conference. Reuters
Donald Trump openly questioned his own intelligence agencies' conclusions that Moscow was to blame for meddling in the 2016 US election to Trump's benefit and seemed to accept Putin's insistence that Russia's hands were clean. Reuters
Trump participated in an expanded bilateral meeting with Russia. Putin, for his part, said he and Trump have maintained regular contact through phone calls and meetings at international events but "the time has come to have a discussion on various international problems and sensitive issues.". Reuters
The US and Russian presidents came out of their meeting in Helsinki expressing a desire to talk again on global challenges, after discussing an array of issues from Syria, Ukraine and China to trade tariffs and the size of their nuclear arsenals. Reuters
There were indications of an arrangement to work together and with Israel to support a ceasefire in southern Syria, suggesting that the US administration is backing off its demand that Moscow's ally Bashar al-Assad step down. First Lady Melania Trump accompanied the president to Helsinki. Reuters