Olivier Knox
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Chief Washington Correspondent
Yahoo News July 7,
2017
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| Trump meets Putin |
President Trump on Friday
repeatedly “pressed” Russian President Vladimir Putin on Moscow’s alleged
interference in the 2016 election, only to be rebuffed, U.S. Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson told reporters.
At a separate briefing, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters that Trump described the multiple
investigations into Moscow’s alleged interference as “strange and bizarre”
because thus far “not a single fact has been presented” to prove the charge.
Putin made “clear declarations”
that the “Russian leadership and Russian government has not interfered in the
elections,” Lavrov said, according to an official translation. And Trump
“accepts the things that Mr. Putin has said,” according to Lavrov.
Tillerson, the only other senior
U.S. official present as the two leaders
held their first face-to-face talks, said Trump now aimed to
“move forward” from the seemingly “intractable” dispute.
“What the two presidents, I think
rightly, focused on is, how do we move forward? How do we move forward from
here?” the former ExxonMobil CEO said.
“I think the relationship — and
the president made this clear as well — is too important. And it’s too
important to not find a way to move forward,” Tillerson added, before stressing
he was “not dismissing the [election] issue in any way.”
View photos
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| U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany July 7, 2017. (Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters) |
Putin’s denial runs directly counter to a U.S. intelligence
community finding, made public on Jan. 6, that the former KGB spymaster “ordered an
influence campaign in 2016 aimed at
the U.S. presidential election” and aspired to help President-elect
Trump’s election chances” with attacks on Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival
for the White House.
“They had a very robust and
lengthy exchange on the subject,” Tillerson told reporters. “The president
pressed President Putin on more than one occasion regarding Russian
involvement. President Putin denied such involvement, as I think he has in the
past.”
The secretary reported seeing
“very clear positive chemistry between the two” in the meeting.
“There was not a lot of
relitigating of the past. I think both of the leaders feel like there’s a lot
of things in the past that both of us are unhappy about. We’re unhappy; they’re
unhappy,” he added.
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President Trump, third from right, Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson, far right, Russian President Vladimir Putin, third from
left, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, far left.
(Photo: Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via
Reuters)
|
Trump and Putin met for two hours
and 16 minutes, well past the officially scheduled 30 minutes, on the sidelines
of the G-20 economic summit in Hamburg, Germany. The only other people in the
room were Tillerson, Lavrov and interpreters on both sides — even though both
Russian officials speak English.
Tillerson also confirmed reports
that Russia, the United States and Jordan had agreed to a cease-fire in
southwestern Syria. “I think this is our first indication of the U.S. and
Russia being able to work together in Syria,” the top U.S. diplomat said.
He also said Trump and Putin
discussed Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, which resulted in Western
economic sanctions, and the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic
missile programs.
“We did have a pretty good exchange
on North Korea. I would say the Russians see it a little differently than we
do,” he told reporters.
“During a brief joint public
appearance at the top of the meeting, the two leaders shared a handshake,
smiles and small talk.
“President Putin and I have been
discussing various things, and I think it’s going very well,” Trump told
reporters, according to a pool report from the Washington Post.
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| Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with first lady Melania Trump during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo: Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via Reuters) |
Trump did not specifically cite
Syria but said, “We look forward to a lot of very positive
things happening for Russia, and for the United States and for everybody
concerned. And it’s an honour to be with you.”
Speaking through a translator,
Putin declared that he was “delighted to be able to meet you personally” and
that he hoped for “positive results” from the discussion.
“Phone conversations are never
enough, definitely,” the Russian leader said. “If you want to have a positive
outcome in bilaterals and be able to resolve most international policy issues,
that will really need personal meetings.”
The two presidents ignored shouted
questions about whether Trump would raise the issue of alleged Russian
interference in the 2016 election. As reporters were ushered out, Trump leaned
in to Putin and said something to Putin, who chuckled.
The light tone of their public
remarks contrasted with Trump’s tougher language a day earlier in a speech in
Warsaw.
“Today, the West is also
confronted by the powers that seek to test our will, undermine our confidence
and challenge our interests. To meet new forms of aggression, including
propaganda, financial crimes and cyber warfare, we must adapt our alliance to
compete effectively in new ways and on all new battlefields,” Trump declared.
“We urge Russia to cease its
destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere, and its support for hostile
regimes — including Syria and Iran — and to instead join the community of
responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and in defence of
civilization itself,” he added.
The meeting in Hamburg came amid
multiple congressional investigations into Russia’s alleged meddling in the
2016 election, as well as a Justice Department special counsel probe into
whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow.
On Thursday, Trump conceded
that Russia could have interfered — but suggested that
some unnamed other countries might have been involved as well.
“I’ve said it very simply. I think
it could very well have been Russia. I think it could well have been other
countries. I won’t be specific. But I think a lot of people interfere,” Trump
said. “Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure.”
Russia has “asked for proof and
evidence,” Tillerson told reporters. “I’ll leave that to the intelligence
community to address, on the answer to that question.”
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