The glare that says it all
US PRESIDENT: WE HAD A PRODUCTIVE DIALOGUE
US President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meet in Helsinki, Finland, yesterday.
The ‘odd couple’ discussed a range of issues and agreed relations must be mended.
Donald Trump met oneon-one with Russia’s Vladimir Putin behind closed doors yesterday in a long-awaited summit overshadowed by the US president blaming his own country’s past “foolishness and stupidity” for the two powers’ hostile ties.
“We discussed a wide range of critical issues for both our countries. We had a productive dialogue, it went very well,” said Trump.
“I want to congratulate Russian President Putin for hosting one of the best ever World Cups. A great job.”
Trump stressed the importance of good relations between the two countries.
“We’re here today to extend the proud tradition of bold American diplomacy. Diplomacy and engagement are preferable to conflict and hostility ... It’s not only good for [the US] and Russia but good for the world.
“If we are going to solve many of the problems facing our world, we will have to find ways to cooperate ... we have seen the consequences when diplomacy is left on the table.
“Our relationship has never been worse than it is now, however that changed as of about four hours ago. Refusing to engage will not accomplish anything.”
The American president said he did question Putin about alleged Russian interference in the US election.
“I addressed directly Russian interference in our elections. We spent a great deal of time talking about it. Putin feels strongly about the issue and has an interesting idea.
“We discussed nuclear proliferation. After today I am sure we and them want to end that problem.
“We also discussed the scourge of radical Islamic terrorism that Russia and the United States have suffered. The Russian president said the talks were “successful and useful”.
“It is obvious to everyone that international relations have lived through a difficult period. The Cold War has ended a long time ago, the situation in the world has drastically changed. Russia and the United States are now facing totally different challenges.”
Putin said the meeting marked the first steps to restore “an acceptable level of trust and go back to previous level of interaction on all mutual interest issues”. – Reuters
Refusing to engage will not accomplish anything