Trump, Putin issue statement for all sides to take part in Syria peace talks
HANOI (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Syria would save many lives, after the two met at a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.
“We agreed very quickly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew from the APEC meeting in the resort city of Danang to Vietnam’s capital Hanoi. “It’s going to save a tremendous number of lives.”
The Kremlin earlier said Trump and Putin had agreed on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that a political solution was needed on Syria and that they would continue efforts to fight Islamic State.
“We spoke intermittently during that roundtable. We seem to have a very good feeling for each other and a good relationship considering we don’t know each other well,” Trump said, adding that he and Putin had two or three very short conversations.
Trump also said Putin had reiterated that he did not meddle in last year’s US presidential election, which brought Trump to the White House.
Trump said a good relationship with Russia was important.
“In fact, it would be a great thing... because he could really help us in North Korea. We have a big problem with North Korea and China is helping us,” Trump said. “If Russia helped us in addition to China, that problem would go away a lot faster.”
Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping was a good man who “wants to do right,” but he wanted Xi to ratchet up more pressure on North Korea.
The Kremlin said the statement on Syria was coordinated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson especially for the meeting in Danang.
With Islamic State having suffered losses in Syria and beyond, greater attention is turning to the broader conflict between President Bashar Assad’s forces and rebel factions.
The two leaders confirmed their commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and called on all parties to the Syrian conflict to take an active part in the Geneva political process, the statement said.
Talking after their meeting, Putin described Trump as “a well-mannered person and comfortable to deal with.”
“We know each other little, but the US president is highly civil in his behavior, friendly. We have a normal dialogue but unfortunately little time,” he said.
After emphasizing last year on the campaign trail that it would be nice if the United States and Russia could work together on world problems, Trump has had limited contact with Putin since taking office.
The sight of Trump sitting down with Putin in public also revives the issue of
election meddling – still under investigation. Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted in the probe along with his former deputy, Rick Gates.
Trump said Putin had told him, again, that he hadn’t meddled in the election.
“I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it,” Trump said of the accusations. “I think he’s very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country.”
Putin dismissed suggestions Russia influenced the elections through political advertising. Tech companies, including Facebook, have said some Russian-bought political content spread on their platforms around the time of the election.
“There is no confirmation of our mass media meddling in election campaigns – and there can’t be any,” Putin said.
Scheduling and unspecified protocol issues were to blame for the fact that a mooted sit-down meeting with Trump did not happen in Danang, Putin said.
They were seen chatting amicably as they walked to the position where the traditional APEC summit photo was being taken at a viewpoint looking over the South China Sea.
Pictures from the APEC meeting also showed Trump walking up to Putin at the summit table and patting him on the back. They also shook hands at the summit dinner on Friday evening. •