Trump, Putin chat on phone, plan meeting
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled improving prospects for cooperation in Syria on Tuesday in what the White House called a “very good” phone discussion that included a focus on setting up safe zones in the war-torn nation.
The Kremlin said the leaders also agreed to try to set up their first in-person meeting in July, on the sidelines of an international summit in Germany. The White House later confirmed that information.
Tuesday’s call marked the first time Trump and Putin have spoken since the U.S. launched missiles against an air base in Syria, an attack that outraged Russia, one of the Syrian government’s strongest backers.
The Kremlin said Trump and Putin agreed to bolster diplomatic efforts to resolve the Syrian civil war, which has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions more displaced. The White House announced it would send a top State Department official to Russian-led talks on Syria that begin Wednesday in Kazakhstan.
“President Trump and President Putin agreed that the suffering in Syria has gone on for far too long and that all parties must do all they can to end the violence,” the White House said. “The conversation was a very good one, and included the discussion of safe, or deescalation, zones to achieve lasting peace for humanitarian and many other reasons.”
The Kremlin characterized the call as “business-like” and “constructive.” It made no mention of safe zones.
Trump has been raising the prospect of safe zones in Syria with world leaders. The zones would be aimed at protecting civilians — and dissuading Syrian refugees from trying to come to the United States, one of Trump’s goals. But military leaders have warned that significant American resources would be required to safeguard the regions.
The U.S. has long sought Moscow’s help in Syria, where the civil war has created a vacuum for the Islamic State and other extremist groups. But Russia’s ongoing support for embattled Syrian leader Bashar Assad has been a persistent roadblock.
As a candidate, Trump argued that the U.S. focus in Syria should be on terrorism, not seeking Assad’s removal from power. And he vowed to work with any country — particularly Russia — that wanted to play a role in that effort.
The shifts in the Trump administration’s posture on Russia came amid a steady swirl of controversy surrounding possible ties between the president’s associates and Russia during last year’s election. The FBI and congressional committees are investigating.
Putin, who met earlier Tuesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, denied that Moscow ever interferes in other countries’ elections. He said accusations of Russian meddling aimed at helping Trump in his race against Democrat Hillary Clinton were “simply rumors” being used as part of a political fight in Washington.
Trump has vigorously denied any nefarious ties to Moscow.
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s supporters are accusing CNN of censorship for not airing an advertisement touting the president’s accomplishments, which the network said Tuesday it rejected because it was its own form of fake news.
The ad from Trump’s campaign says that “America has rarely seen such success” and lists a series of actions from the first 100 days of his presidency.
“You wouldn’t know it from watching the news. America is winning, and President Trump is making America great again,” the ad says. The faces of NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and CBS’ Scott Pelley are shown onscreen behind the phrase “fake news.”
CNN said it requested the campaign remove the “false graphic,” which was denied.
“The mainstream media is not fake news, and therefore the ad is false and per policy will be accepted only if that graphic is deleted,” CNN tweeted in response.