MT During a discussion with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Donald Trump returned to the two hours he spent with Vladimir Putin, believing that their meeting had been “formidable.”
In an interview with Theresa May on the sidelines of the G20 in Hamburg on 8 July, Donald Trump took the opportunity to express his feelings on his first official meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin the day before.
Trump and UK's May meeting now. Trump says yday mtg w Putin was "tremendous" pic.twitter.com/EezfPvJOcn
— Margaret Talev (@margarettalev) July 8, 2017
Without shedding much light on the subject, the American president still slipped that their meeting had been “formidable”, according to AFP.
"Rex and I had a tremendous meeting yesterday with President Putin," Trump says sitting beside PM May. (@HorsleyScott pic) pic.twitter.com/J8xOvHiztR
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) July 8, 2017
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had already said the day before that the meeting had been very constructive and that the “connection” between the two leaders had been made very quickly. “There is very clearly a positive alchemy between them,” he said.
The two heads of state did not however avoid the subjects of discord, and in particular the supposed Russian interference in the American election. According to Rex Tillerson, the subject was the occasion of a “very long and very vigorous” exchange, during which the Russian president denied any involvement of Moscow and asked that Washington provide evidence to substantiate these accusations.
If Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has assured that US President Donald Trump “accepts” Russia’s denials of these alleged interferences, Rex Tillerson has been less forthright.
The two leaders also had differing views on how to deal with the issues of North Korea’s nuclear program and its ballistic missile tests. Washington will continue to press Moscow so that Russia slows down the Pyongyang activities, according to Rex Tillerson.
But the two countries have agreed on the establishment of a ceasefire from 9 July in southwestern Syria.
