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Trump goes 1 on 1 with Putin, says world wants them to 'get along'

Helsinki meeting condemned in advance by assortment of members of U.S. Congress from both parties

'Getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing,' says U.S. president 1:56



Kicking off his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said in Helsinki, "I really think the world wants to see us get along."

The pair arrived at the presidential palace in Finland's capital for a long-awaited meeting, hours after Trump blamed Washington's own past "foolishness and stupidity," and not Russian election meddling or the country's annexation of Crimea, for bad relations between the two countries.

"I think we have great opportunities together ... frankly we have not been getting along the last few years," Trump said.
Putin, for his part, said he and Trump have maintained regular contact, including talking by phone and meeting at international events. Speaking through an interpreter, the Russian leader said, "The time has come to have a thorough discussion on various international problems and sensitive issues."

The meeting takes place against a backdrop of fraying Western alliances, a new peak in the Russia investigation and fears that Moscow's aggression may go unchallenged.

"Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse," Trump tweeted from Finland on Monday morning:





The meeting, which was being closely watched by rattled world capitals, was condemned in advance by members of Congress from both parties after the U.S. indictment last week of 12 Russian military intelligence officers accused of hacking Democrats in the 2016 election to help Trump's presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton,Trump's 2016 presidential opponent, also weighed in, via Twitter.





Russia denies interfering in the U.S. presidential election.

Trump has said he will raise the election meddling, but does not expect to get anywhere. He has repeatedly noted that Putin denies it, also saying it is alleged to have taken place before he became president.

CBC's Susan Ormiston, in Helsinki, tells us what to expect from today's meeting.








 CBC News senior correspondent Susan Ormiston offers perspective on the historic summit in Helsinki 1:54

Trump says he doesn't see why Russia would have meddled in election

After Putin meeting, Trump tweets: 'I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people'

Russian President Vladimir Putin smiles during a news conference on Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump at the presidential palace in Helsinki, Finland. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press)


U.S. President Donald Trump said after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in Helsinki that he didn't see "any reason why" Russia would have interfered in the 2016 U.S. federal election, despite the findings of his own intelligence agencies.

On a day when he faced pressure from critics, allied countries and even his own staff to take a tough line, Trump said not a single critical word about Moscow on any of the issues that have brought relations between the two powers to the lowest ebb since the Cold War.
Instead, he denounced the "stupidity" of his own country's policy, especially the decision to investigate election interference. Trump's performance is likely to create a political storm in the United States, where the White House has struggled for months to dispel a suggestion that Trump was unwilling to stand up to Putin.

Trump held his meeting with Putin just days after a special prosecutor in the United States indicted 12 Russian agents for stealing Democratic Party documents to help him win the vote. Asked if he believed U.S. intelligence agencies, which concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help him defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, he said he was not convinced.

Watch as Trump deflects a direct question about Russian election interference. 

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"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 U.S. president also continued to deny that there had been any other collusion between his campaign and Russians, declaring: "We ran a brilliant campaign and that's why I'm president."

Speaking through an interpreter, Putin once again denied what he described as "so-called interference of Russia." He called it "nonsense" and insisted the Russian state had never interfered and would never interfere in the American electoral process.

Putin 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."

The Russian president reiterated his message in an interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News, saying allegations of meddling were ridiculous and that Russia had nothing compromising on Trump.

"I don't want to insult President Trump when I say this — and I may come as rude — but before he announced that he will run for presidency, he was of no interest for us," he said in the Fox interview.

'Clear in our assessment' 

American intelligence agencies have said their assessments show that Russia meddled in the 2016 campaign.

In a statement released after the meeting between the two leaders, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats — who was appointed by Trump — said the role of the intelligence community is "to provide the best information and fact-based assessments possible" for the president and U.S. policymakers.

"We have been clear in our assessment of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security.

As reaction and criticism poured in after the meeting, the U.S. president weighed in again on Twitter later Monday, saying "as I said today and many times before, "I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people." However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past — as the world's two largest nuclear powers, we must get along!"

'Foolishness and stupidity'

Before the summit even began, Trump blamed his own country for the deterioration in relations.

"Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!" he said on Twitter. The Russian foreign ministry tweeted back: "We agree."

At the news conference, Trump was invited by reporters to offer any criticism of Russia but he repeatedly declined.

Asked if Russia was at all to blame for the poor ties, he said: "I hold both countries responsible. I think the U.S. has been foolish. We've all been foolish," he said, before veering into discussion about his election victory.

Watch as Trump blames both U.S. and Russia for the frosty relations between the 2 nations. 

00:0002:00

"I beat Hillary Clinton easily and frankly we beat her. We won that race and it's a shame that there can be even a little bit of a cloud over it," he said.

Trump's warm words for Russia were a marked contrast from the past week when he repeatedly rebuked traditional U.S. allies at a summit of NATO and during a visit to Britain.

Asked if Putin was an adversary, he said: "Actually I called him a competitor and a good competitor he is and I think the word competitor is a compliment."
Putin spoke of the importance of the two countries working together and praised Trump, at one point interrupting the news conference to give the U.S. president a soccer ball.

Asked whether he had wanted Trump to win the 2016 election and had instructed officials to help him, Putin said, "Yes I did," although he denied any interference, saying the allegations were "complete nonsense."

Trump also told gathered reporters that Putin made an "incredible offer" of law enforcement collaboration during the leaders' one-on-one summit.

Watch the full Trump-Putin news conference below.

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