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Trump tells Putin at Helsinki summit: 'I really think the world wants to see us get along' – live updates
Donald Trump: Putin has 'interesting idea' about US election meddling – live updates
(35 minutes later)
Trump says the US and Russia “could save hundreds of thousands of lives” in Syria.
“This was a very constructive day, a very constructive few hours we spent together.”
“I’m sure we’ll be meeting again in the future, often.”
The two presidents have concluded their remarks and now for questions from the press.
Trump says he addressed election interference.
“I thought it was best done in person,” Trump said.
He says they spent a great deal of time talking about it. “He feels very strongly about it - and he has an interesting idea.”
“The disagreements between our two countries are well-known and president Putin and I discussed them at length today,” Trump says.
He says to address world problems the two countries are going to have to work together.
“Even during the tensions of the Cold War, when the world looked much different than it does today, Russia and the US were able to maintain a strong dialogue.”
“Our relationship has never been worse than it is now. However, that changed. As of about four hours ago.”
Trump: "Our relationship has never been worse than it is now. However, that changed as of about four hours ago." (Some giggles in the room. Putin remains poker faced.)
Trump is now speaking.
“We had direct, open, deeply productive dialogue. It went very well.”
He commends Putin for how Russia hosted the World Cup and the national team’s performance at the tournament.
Putin said Trump raised the issue of Russian meddling in the US election.
“I had to repeat what I said earlier, including in personal meetings with the president, Russia never interfered and doesn’t plan to interfere in US domestic politics, including elections,” Putin said.
He said if “any such material, if such things arise, we are ready to discuss them together.”
“The United States could be more decisive in nudging Ukrainian leadership,” Putin says.
“We agreed, me and president Trump, we agreed to put together a high-level working group” of Russia and and American businessmen, Putin says.
Putin is discussing counterterrorism and cybersecurity.
Putin said Russia and US interests don’t always “dovetail,” but “the overlapping interests abound.”
He talks about Syria and how to get refugees back to their home and how the US and Russia have communicated about their intervention there.
He said they are “glad” issues with North Korea “are starting to resolve.”
The press conference is under way.
Putin begins. He says the Cold War is a thing of the past.
“Today both Russia and the United States face a whole new set of challenges.”
Putin said in the negotiations they outlined “first steps for improving this relationship and to restore an acceptable level of trust”.
There was just a skirmish in the press conference hall and a man was removed from the room.
Security officials asked him to leave the room earlier, and he left peacefully, according to CNN’s Jim Acosta but then the man re-entered.
He was then forcibly removed, carrying a hand-written sign.
The man identified himself as a US journalist from The Nation, according to reporters who witnessed the altercation, but that has not been confirmed.
Acosta said the sign said: “Nuclear weapons ban treaty”.
US Journalist from The Nation sitting next to me is being asked to go with secret service before start of news conf. Escorted out by Finnish security and US secret service #. #TrumpPutinSummit pic.twitter.com/EunnupuCoV
The “two-minute” warning issued moments ago at the press briefing was ambitious.
It’s been more than ten minutes since the two-minute warning.
Reporters have gathered for the press conference and were just warned it will begin in two minutes.
Reporters have gathered for the press conference and were just warned it will begin in two minutes.
Several American print reporters are on the floor for the presser. The rest of us are in the balcony. Nice view: pic.twitter.com/roXBdtwoIb
Several American print reporters are on the floor for the presser. The rest of us are in the balcony. Nice view: pic.twitter.com/roXBdtwoIb
At presidential palace awaiting Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. pic.twitter.com/mVtJXas8PC
At presidential palace awaiting Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. pic.twitter.com/mVtJXas8PC
Trump, Putin and their aides gathered for lunch in the Hall of Mirrors, once the emperor’s throne room, following the one-on-one meeting.
That meeting lasted more than two hours, though the White House allotted 1.5 hours for the meeting in its schedule for Monday.
There was also a delay because Putin arrived late to his meeting with Trump.
All of this has pushed back the press conference, which was scheduled to begin 40 minutes ago. Reporters in Helsinki are antsy:
It’s getting a bit chaotic as non-big US network TV crews get impatient. pic.twitter.com/gE4GOunJel
The Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief, David Smith, is huddled with the press in Helsinki and the press conference delay is a good opportunity to read his report on the summit from this morning, if you missed it:
A former US defense secretary under Barack Obama, Chuck Hagel, said he was worried because there was not a clear “strategic purpose” for the one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin.
“What is the point?” Hagel, a former republican senator, asked on Monday morning.
“Let’s understand something: the interests of any nation are far bigger than any one leader,” Hagel told NPR on Monday morning. “The interests of America are not the interests that president Trump defines them to be, or he decides that they are the priority or specific interest, or thinks they are or says they are.”
Hagel said he supports engagement with world powers but those meetings are “all about a strategic purpose.”
“What is the point? Is this just a golf date – with another leader?” Hagel said. “This is not a transactional issue like a real estate deal or an Apprentice-like show business appearance. There has to be preparation.”
When NPR asked Hagel what he expected to come out of this meeting, Hagel said: “I don’t know what has gone into it to start with. What was the point? The strategic purpose of going into it? He [Trump] went into it this very weakened because of a divided alliance that he actually perpetuated as well as a divided country.”
Trump’s full quote after the one-on-one meeting: “I think it’s a good start. Very, very good start for everybody.”
And more from the pool report:
The Russian and American delegations were seated across the table – dressed with a white table cloth, wine glasses, and china – and sitting in complete silence when we entered. Putin sat directly across from Trump. Trump was flanked by Pompeo and his translator.
White House pool reporter Annie Karni said Trump responded to one shouted question following his one-on-one meeting with Putin. Trump said the meeting was a “very good start,” per the pool report.
Karni said a White House spokesperson would not confirm that the meeting lasted two hours and ten minutes, as others are reporting.
After their one-on-one meeting, Presidents Trump and Putin and delegation members sat down to lunch in the Hall of Mirrors. Asked how their meeting went, "very good start," said Pres Trump. (Pool photo by @anniekarni) pic.twitter.com/KVhwNhihob
CNN are showing footage of Trump and Putin sitting down for a very late lunch flanked by six aides each.
As expected on Trump’s side were US ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman; US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo; White House chief of staff, John Kelly; national security adviser, John Bolton; and Russia expert and Trump adviser, Fiona Hill.
Putin’s six aides included his spokesman Dmitry Petrov and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
It’s just 4.25pm in Helsinki and the two leaders still haven’t had lunch, as the Putin-Trump one-to-one meeting goes into its third hour.
White House pool reporter Tessa Berenson has this update:
Pool was just informed Trump and Putin’s 1:1 meeting is still going, meaning it’s pushing 2 hours
Another pool reporter Annie Karni added:
At 4 pm, we were herded into a coat check area to clear the way for the exit of the President of Finland.
He had been here to welcome the two visiting leaders — he welcomed Putin first, earlier today, and then Trump when he arrived.
Now that he’s gone, we’re back on the patio awaiting lunch to start.
The White House said lunch might be later and that it will let us know how long the one-on-one lasted.
China has filed a complaint against the US at the World Trade Organization after Donald Trump’s threats to place tariffs on an additional $200bn (£150bn) worth of Chinese goods.
The one-sentence announcement by the ministry of commerce comes less than a week after the US president called for a second round of tariffs on China, in retaliation for Chinese tariffs placed on American goods.
On 6 July, the US imposed 25% tariffs on $34bn in Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to hit back with levies on the same amount of US exports to China. In response, the White House last week released a wide-ranging list of Chinese goods, from tobacco to pet food, worth $200bn it would target with a 10% tariffs. Beijing said it would “fight back as usual” and would file a complaint with the WTO.
Trump said China and “our mutual friend President Xi” would be one of the key issues at his summit with Vladimir Putin.
The Putin Trump tete-a-tete has been going on for almost two hours, an Finnish official told AP. It had been expected to last for 90 minutes at most. Extra time and penalties?
Per Finnish official: Trump-Putin one-on-one meeting still ongoing, approaching two hours
There have been more anti-Trump and anti-Putin protests in Helsinki, with some dressed as Margaret Atwood-inspired handmaids demanding the release of members of Pussy Riot who were arrested on Sunday after invading the pitch at the World Cup final in Moscow.
AP reports:
Abortion-rights activists dressed up Monday in bulging bellies and Trump masks. Anti-fascist protesters carried signs with expletive-laden insults. Free traders, anti-war Ukrainians, environmentalists and rainbow flag-waving gay rights supporters all vied for attention from the world’s media.
In a city proud to defend the right to protest, demonstrators were scattered about. Some stayed at barriers erected by police to try to register their complaints as the world leaders sped by in armor-plated vehicles for their summit at Finland’s presidential palace.
Others marched by Helsinki landmarks, far away from the leaders’ gathering but in clear view of curious residents and tourists.
At the city’s Senate Square, about 20 male “pregnant Trumps” and 20 women wearing pink gags railed against a Trump order reinstating what critics call a “global gag rule” that bans providing federal money to international family-planning groups that perform abortions or provide information about them.
Another march that drew hundreds of people was a mishmash of messages some supporting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and some shouting “Fascists go home!” Some marchers questioned the legitimacy of Trump’s election victory since he lost the popular vote. Another sign read: “A woman’s place is in the Resistance.”
“I don’t think the two people meeting today are going to care whether we are here or not, frankly,” said Helsinki protesters Tina Aspiala, 43. “It’s more of a global solidarity against a lot of things that are messed up, and I think that that’s why it’s worth coming out.”
Some marchers had professionally designed banners while others scrawled slogans like “Not Welcome” onto homemade posters or warned of a looming apocalypse.
On Sunday, 1,500 people marched through the city to promote human and sexual rights, democracy and environmental issues.
Here’s what Putin wants to talk about, according to the Russian embassy in the US: “ways to normalise bilateral relations, as well as current international issues, primarily the situation in Ukraine, Syria and the Korean Peninsula, and the fight against terrorism.”
None of these issues were mentioned by Trump in his opening remarks.
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will discuss ways to normalise bilateral relations, as well as current international issues, primarily the situation in Ukraine, Syria and the Korean Peninsula, and the fight against terrorism. pic.twitter.com/msuboPmAdA
