Russian president hopes for further meetings with US counterpart

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed hope over holding more meetings with his US counterpart Donald Trump, following their first meeting on the sidelines of the recent G20 summit.

"If the dialogue were to go on, as you have said in this sense, in a humanitarian sense, there is the chance to hope that the dialogue develops further," Putin said at a meeting with a group of mine workers in Belgorod region aired by the Russia 24 TV channel on Friday.

"He (Trump) reacts to the interlocutor, at the reasons, he is involved in the discussion even if he does not like something and he does not agree with something, he asks some questions, reacts to the interlocutor's reasoning," Putin pointed out.

Following their bilateral meeting in Hamburg, Putin said he believed he had already established a personal relationship with Trump, noting that "the TV Trump is very different from the person in reality.”

During their meeting on July 7, the two presidents exchanged viewpoints on a host of international problems and bilateral issues such as the ongoing crises in Syria and Ukraine, anti-terrorism campaign and cybersecurity.  

Trump voiced optimism that there would be “very positive things” in store for the relations between Washington and Moscow, and that it was “an honor” to be with Putin.

“We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia and the United States,” Trump said.

The US president did not provide any further details about the array of issues he and the Russian leader had conferred, simply terming them as “various things.”

The White House said in advance that the meeting was initially planned to last for 35 minutes, but it extended well beyond that and clocked in at two hours and 16 minutes.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who described the meeting as "very robust and lengthy," were also present at the meeting. 

Tillerson said Trump pressed Putin about Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, a charge the Russian leader denied.

The secretary of state added that Trump and Putin agreed to work on commitments of "non-interference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process as well as those in other countries."

Briefing reporters in Hamburg following the meeting, Lavrov said Trump agreed with Putin that the meddling allegations against Russia were baseless.

Trump has not been able to deliver on his election campaign pledge of rapprochement with Russia due to ongoing investigations into the Russian meddling allegations and his reported campaign ties with Moscow.

At home, Trump is struggling with a deepening scandal over alleged Russian efforts to help him defeat his rival Hillary Clinton in last year’s White House race.

The scandal has now entangled his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, who on Tuesday released emails showing he embraced Russia's efforts to support his father's presidential campaign, and admitting he would "love" to get dirt from Moscow on Clinton.

Read more:

• US Senate requests more records from Trump Jr.

Trump on Wednesday defended his son, praising his "transparency" for releasing the email chain and again condemning the investigation about whether Moscow helped him win the White House last November.

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