What the presidents said…
A mutual appreciation of world powers
TRUMP ON PUTIN
“I called him a competitor and a good competitor he is. The word competitor is a compliment”
TRUMP ON ELECTION MEDDLING
“He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be”
TRUMP ON US-RUSSIA RELATIONS
“Our relationship has never been worse than it is now. However, that changed four hours ago”
TRUMP ON PREVIOUS US ADMINISTRATIONS
“I think the United States has been foolish; we’ve all been foolish. The United States will step forward together with Russia”
PUTIN ON TRUMP
“Yes, I wanted him to win [the election] because he spoke of the normalisation of Russian-us ties”
PUTIN ON COLLUSION
“Could you name a single fact that would definitely prove the collusion? This is utter nonsense”
ON CLAIMS RUSSIA HAS MATERIAL THAT COMPROMISES TRUMP
“It’s difficult to imagine an utter nonsense of a bigger scale than this”
PUTIN ON US TALKS WITH NORTH KOREA
“To a great extent, it was possible thanks to the personal engagement of President Trump, who opted for dialogue instead of confrontation”
PUTIN ON FUTURE RELATIONSHIP WITH TRUMP
“Now the ball is in your court”