Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Image(WASHINGTON) — President Trump, on the morning after his return from the G-20 summit and his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said it’s time to work “constructively with Russia.”
The president also said the possibility of the U.S. lifting its sanctions against Russia didn’t come up in his meeting with Putin.
Sanctions were not discussed at my meeting with President Putin. Nothing will be done until the Ukrainian & Syrian problems are solved!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017
In other tweets on Sunday morning, Trump noted that the U.S. and Russia worked together to help negotiate a cease-fire in parts of Syria and said that in his meeting with Putin he pressed him about Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
I strongly pressed President Putin twice about Russian meddling in our election. He vehemently denied it. I’ve already given my opinion…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017
…We negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria which will save lives. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017
Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017
The president also returned to frequent topics of his: accusing former President Obama of not acting in response to the alleged hacking, and raising questions about both the media’s reporting on the revelations of the election interference and the Democratic National Committee’s response.
…and safe. Questions were asked about why the CIA & FBI had to ask the DNC 13 times for their SERVER, and were rejected, still don’t….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017
…have it. Fake News said 17 intel agencies when actually 4 (had to apologize). Why did Obama do NOTHING when he had info before election?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017
Trump’s tweetstorm comes after Putin said at a press conference Saturday that he believes the U.S. president was “satisfied” with his answers to questions about Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The Russian leader said Trump brought up the alleged election meddling and asked “many questions” about the topic.
“I answered all these questions as much as I could. It seems to me that he took note of this and agreed,” Putin said in his native tongue at the televised press conference, which was translated by Russian news agency Interfax.
“He really was interested in some details. I, as far as I could, answered all this in detail,” Putin added, when pressed further by reporters about the meeting with Trump. “He asked me; I answered. He asked clarifying questions; I explained. He appeared to me satisfied with these answers.”
Putin said he reiterated to the U.S. president that there was no basis for such allegations.
“Our position is well-known,” Putin told reporters. “There is no ground to believe that Russia interfered in the U.S. electoral process.”
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said Sunday that President Trump does not accept Putin’s denial of Russian interference in the election and that he spent an “extensive” portion of the meeting discussing the topic.
Prior to the Russian president’s press conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the media Friday that Trump raised the issue of election meddling. He said the U.S. president accepted Putin’s “clear statements” that “Russian leadership hadn’t interfered.”
But a senior White House official, when asked by ABC News whether Lavrov’s description of Trump’s accepting Putin’s denial of election interference was true, said, “No,” without providing further information.
During an off-camera briefing Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters that the alleged election interference was the first subject Trump raised at the meeting with the Russian leader.
“The president opened the meeting by raising the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in 2016 election. Putin denied such involvement, as he has done in the past,” Tillerson said. “The two leaders agreed this is of substantial hindrance. They agreed to exchange further work regarding commitments of noninterference in the affairs of the U.S. and our democratic process as well as other countries.”
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