{"id":10709,"date":"2018-07-16T22:20:12","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T22:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=10709"},"modified":"2018-07-16T22:20:12","modified_gmt":"2018-07-16T22:20:12","slug":"trump-putin-meeting-off-to-a-good-start-trump-defend-russia-on-us-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=10709","title":{"rendered":"Trump, Putin meeting off to a good start; Trump defends Russia on US Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

By AP.<\/strong>
\nHELSINKI (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump and Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin opened their long-awaited summit Monday with a wink and slouch, respectively, then talked one on one behind closed doors for two-plus hours before the American leader declared their meeting was off to a \u201cvery, very good start for everybody.\u201d
\nNeither leader revealed what was discussed. But in advance of the talks, Trump listed a series of topics that did not include Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
\n\u201cWe have not been getting along well for the last number of years,\u201d Trump said after arriving at the Presidential Palace in Finland\u2019s capital, where the leaders are meeting. \u201cBut I think we will end up having an extraordinary relationship. … I really think the world wants to see us get along.\u201d
\nPutin, for his part, said he and Trump have maintained regular contact through phone calls and meetings at international events but \u201cthe time has come to have a thorough discussion on various international problems and sensitive issues.\u201d He added: \u201cThere are quite a few of them for us to pay attention to.\u201d
\nTheir opening one-on-one session had been scheduled to run 90 minutes. The Russians said it lasted two hours and 10 minutes. The White House wouldn\u2019t immediately confirm the timing.
\nUS President Donald Trump is calling his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin \u201ca good start, a very good start for everybody\u201d as the two leaders and their top advisers sat across the table from one another during a luncheon. (July 16)
\nThe summit, which is being closely watched around the world, was not the first time Trump and Putin have held talks. They met on the sidelines of world leader meetings in Germany and Vietnam last year. But Monday\u2019s session 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\u2019s presidential campaign.
\nTrump said last week that he would raise the meddling issue again with Putin, but questions have been swirling about whether Trump will sharply and publicly rebuke his Russian counterpart for the interference that prompted a special investigation probe that Trump has repeatedly labeled a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d
\nAddressing reporters before the one-on-one meeting, Putin struck a casual pose during Trump\u2019s remarks, slouching in his chair with his legs wide and eyes low. He nodded along to some of Trump\u2019s remarks before they were translated, showcasing his fluency in English. Trump leaned forward in his chair, his hands tented in front of him and frequently glanced over at the Russian president. At one point, he shot Putin a wink. After Trump concluded his remarks, American reporters shouted several questions about whether he would bring up election meddling during his discussions with Putin.
\nTrump did not respond; Putin appeared to smirk.
\nWith that, the leaders gave a quick handshake and their private meeting in the opulent Gothic Hall was under way. Just the two of them, each with a translator.
\nThey continued the discussion with an expanded group of aides and over lunch in the Hall of Mirrors, once the emperor\u2019s throne room. They\u2019ll conclude the summit by taking questions at a joint news conference.
\nOut on the streets, the summit attracted a grab-bag of protesters, with abortion-rights activists wearing artificially bulging bellies and Trump masks, anti-fascist protesters bearing signs with expletive-laden insults, and free traders, anti-war Ukrainians and gay rights supporters making their voices heard.
\nThe summit began just hours after Trump blamed the United States \u2014 and not Russian election meddling or its annexation of Crimea \u2014 for a low-point in U.S.-Russia relations. The drama was playing out against a backdrop of fraying Western alliances, a new peak in the Russia investigation and fears that Moscow\u2019s aggression may go unchallenged.
\n\u201cOur relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse,\u201d Trump tweeted Monday morning, blaming \u201cmany years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!\u201d
\nThe Russian foreign ministry responded by liking Trump\u2019s tweet and then replying: \u201cWe agree.\u201d
\nThe summit started late because Putin arrived in Helsinki about a half hour behind schedule in another display of the Russian\u2019s leader famous lack of punctuality. Trump seemed to return the favor by waiting until Putin had arrived at the palace before leaving his hotel. Putin has been late for past meetings with the pope and British queen, among many others.
\nSeveral dozen Trump supporters, many waving American flags and sporting \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d caps, cheered Trump near his waterfront hotel in Helsinki. Two held up a handwritten banner that read \u201cGod Bless D & M Trump.\u201d
\nTrump and his aides have repeatedly tried to lower expectations about what the summit will achieve. He told CBS News that he didn\u2019t \u201cexpect anything\u201d from Putin, while his national security adviser said the U.S. wasn\u2019t looking for any \u201cconcrete deliverables.\u201d Trump told reporters during a breakfast Monday with Finland\u2019s president that he thought the summit would go \u201cfine.\u201d
\nObservers have raised concerns about the fact that the leaders met alone during their first meeting, but for a pair of interpreters, meaning there will be no corroborating witnesses to accurately represent what was said during the conversation.
\nTrump said he and Putin would discuss a range of issues, from trade to the military, along with missiles and China. Not mentioned: Election meddling or Syria.
\nThe Russian Foreign Ministry rejected last week\u2019s indictment as part of a \u201cshameful comedy\u201d they claim has been staged to prevent the normalization of Russia-U.S. ties.
\nIn tweets Monday, Trump continued to undermine the investigation and blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama, for failing to stop Russia\u2019s efforts to sway the 2016 election in Trump\u2019s favor. He claimed Obama \u201cwas informed by the FBI about Russian Meddling, he said it couldn\u2019t happen, was no big deal, & did NOTHING about it.\u201d
\nThe Obama administration did, in fact, take action, including confronting Putin in person as well as expelling nearly three dozen Russian diplomats the U.S. said were actually intelligence operatives and imposing new sanctions.
\nWhile Trump was eager for a made-for-TV moment that will dominate headlines like his sit-down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last month, Putin hopes the meeting, mere hours after he presided over the World Cup finals, will help him forge good personal ties with Trump and focus on areas where Moscow and Washington may be able to find common ground, such as Syria.
\nPutin will likely not be shooting for official recognition of Russia\u2019s 2014 annexation of Crimea or the easing of crippling U.S. sanctions, aware that the U.S. Congress would never allow such action. But he would welcome a symbolic end to Western protests over Crimea and Moscow\u2019s attempts to destabilize elections and traditional Western alliances and norms.
\nOn Syria, a possible deal could see Moscow helping mediate the withdrawal of Iranian forces and their Hezbollah proxies from the areas alongside Syria\u2019s border with Israel \u2014 a diplomatic coup that would reflect Russia\u2019s carefully cultivated ties with both Israel and Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By AP. HELSINKI (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump and Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin opened their long-awaited summit Monday with a wink and slouch, respectively, then talked one on one behind closed doors for two-plus hours before the American leader declared their meeting was off to a \u201cvery, very good start for everybody.\u201d Neither leader revealed what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10709\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}