Osaka: President Donald Trump came face to face here Friday with Russia’s Vladimir Putin for the first time since the special counsel found extensive evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
When asked if he would warn Russia not to meddle in the next election, Trump wore a bit of a smile, pointed his finger at Putin and dryly said: “Don’t meddle in the US election, please.”
Overall however, Trump hailed his ‘very, very good relationship’ with Putin as the two leaders held talks on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.
“It’s a great honour to be with President Putin,” said Trump, who last held face-to-face talks with the Russian leader in Helsinki in 2018. “We have a very, very good relationship.”
The keenly awaited meeting between the pair has been overshadowed by a probe into Trump’s relations with Russia and the controversy that erupted the last time he held talks with the Kremlin leader.
Asked before travelling to Japan about the planned talks, Trump told reporters the content of the discussions was ‘none of your business’.
“I’ll have a very good conversation with him,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “What I say to him is none of your business,” he added.
Trump has been dogged throughout his presidency by allegations of suspicious ties to Russia. A major probe led by special prosecutor Robert Mueller found there was an organised Russian campaign to influence the 2016 election won by Trump. It found contacts between Russian operatives and Trump’s election campaign, but no evidence of a joint plot.
In Helsinki last year, Trump refused at a joint press conference with Putin to criticise Russian interference in the 2016 election and said that he believed the Russian leader’s denials.
AFP