President Trump and Vladimir Putin tackled allegations of election meddling in unprecedented terms following their one-on-one summit Monday, with Trump opening the door to an unusual offer of cooperation in the special counsel probe and the Russian president suggesting he indeed favored the billionaire businessman in 2016.
But Putin, emphatically and repeatedly, denied meddling in the U.S. election, saying there's "no evidence." And Trump, while saying they spent a "great deal of time" discussing the allegations,
blasted the ongoing probe as a "disaster for our country."
The two leaders spoke at a freewheeling joint press conference following a pair of meetings -- one private -- in Helsinki, Finland.
Trump and Putin touted the summit as a "success," vowing to improve ties on a range of issues.
“I would rather take a political risk in pursuit of peace than to risk peace in pursuit of politics,” Trump declared.
During their press conference, few topics were off limits. The session with international reporters ended with Putin being asked whether he had compromising material on Trump, which he dismissed as "nonsense." Even that moment was overshadowed by the extensive comments on election meddling.
Trump once again asserted there was "no collusion."
I didn’t know the president. There was no one to collude with, and there was no collusion with the campaign,” Trump said, suggesting Democrats have used the issue as an excuse for losing. “We ran a brilliant campaign, and that’s why I’m president.”
When asked which side is responsible for damaged relations, Trump said, "I hold both countries responsible."
The statement drew bipartisan criticism back in Washington.
"This is bizarre and flat-out wrong. The United States is not to blame," Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said in a statement.
Former CIA director John Brennan, who frequently blasts Trump, tweeted: "Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of 'high crimes & misdemeanors.' It was nothing short of treasonous."
The two leaders said they discussed a host of other issues during their meeting Monday in Helsinki,
and were working toward strengthening U.S.-Russian relations -- which Trump said “has never been worse than it is now” despite the push from Democrats and some Republicans back home in the U.S. to cancel the summit.
But he said the relationship has changed. Trump said he would “not make decisions on foreign policy in a futile effort to appease partisan critics, the media or Democrats who want to resist and obstruct.”
At one point, Putin handed Trump a soccer ball and said "the ball is now in your court."
The joint press conference was held minutes after the historic summit between the two leaders Monday. The two met one-on-one for more than two hours, and later in an expanded meeting with key advisers.
Trump, as the private meeting began earlier Monday, said the two would have “a lot of good things to talk about,” from
trade to missile defense to China. A host of other issues, from Russia election meddling to the annexation of Crimea to Syria, were also expected to come up.
“I think we will end up having an extraordinary relationship,” Trump said, sitting next to Putin earlier at the presidential palace in Helsinki.
Putin later said he and Trump agreed to continue detailed discussions on arms control issues.
Putin said Russia and the U.S. should discuss a possible extension of the 2010 New START nuclear arms reduction treaty and the implementation of the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...ddling-as-leaders-tout-summit-as-success.html
