EYEBALL TO EYEBALL
Trump and Putin in tense handshake as they meet for first face-to-face talks
HE is known for his somewhat forceful handshake, yanking world leaders by the arm. But when Donald Trump came face-to-face with Vladimir Putin for the first time yesterday, he clearly felt it was best to err on the side of caution.
The US and Russians presidents met at the G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg.
Photos show them cordially shaking hands as they conducted marathon talks, during which Mr Trump raised concerns about Moscow’s alleged interference in last year’s US election.
Mr Trump, who hailed his meeting with Mr Putin as a ‘great honour’, was seen extending his hand towards the Russian president.
He abandoned his notorious power handshake – which has seen him wrestle a string of foreign leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Japan’s Shinzo Abe in recent months – with the pair sharing a firm shake as they locked eyes.
Mr Putin also put on a show of warmth for the cameras, telling Mr Trump at the start of the meeting: ‘Phone conversation is never enough definitely. I’m delighted to be able to meet you personally, Mr President.’
During the ‘robust and lengthy’ discussions, Mr Putin demanded proof that his country meddled in last year’s US vote.
He denied being involved in the issue, which has overshadowed Mr Trump’s presidency and sparked a major investigation into his campaign team’s ties to Moscow.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, who attended the meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, said Mr Trump accepted Mr Putin’s assurances Russia was not involved.
But Mr Tillerson said the Russians had asked for ‘proof and evidence’ of their involvement.
‘The issue has become a hin- drance to better relations between the two powers,’ he told reporters. ‘I think the President is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point.’
However both Mr Trump and Mr Putin appeared determined not to let the issue obstruct future cooperation. They announced a breakthrough on the crisis in Syria, with an agreement on a ceasefire in the southwest region of the war-torn country that will begin tomorrow.
It came 24 hours after Mr Trump had used a speech in Warsaw to take Russia to task for ‘destabilising behaviour’, and urged Putin’s regime stop supporting ‘hostile regimes’ in Iran and Syria. Their meeting was originally scheduled for 35 minutes, but instead lasted two hours and 16 minutes.
‘There was so much to talk about,’ said Mr Tillerson. ‘Neither one of them wanted to stop.’ He added that at one point, aides sent in First Lady Melania Trump to try to wrap up the talks, but the meeting still went on for another hour.
Despite Mr Trump’s seemingly warm talks with Mr Putin, other leaders ganged up on him over his decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement on cutting carbon emissions.
Mr Trump also clashed with Mr Macron behind closed doors, with the French president telling him that nationalism could lead to war during a fiery debate on economic protectionism.
Theresa May will hold her own talks with Mr Trump today, focusing on North Korea, climate change and trade.
‘Delighted to meet you personally’