Photo caption:”A group of protesters are calling for war to end in Afghanistan during the Trump-Putin summit on July 16, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. They were joining a march with 10 groups in a rally named #Helsinki-0456″

2016 US election meddling was denied by both parties

The first issue diverting the discussion was primarily towards the Russian meddling in the 2016 US election of which both presidents vehemently denied. “There was no collusion. I beat Hillary Clinton easily. It’s a shame that there could even be a bit of a cloud over it,” the Trump said.

“The Russian state has never interfered and will never interfere in the internal workings of the US state,” Putin said. President Trump instead asked a question in return “What happened to servers managed by the  Pakistani gentlemen? Why did the 33,000 emails of Hillary Clinton are suddenly gone?“

On this issue, both presidents agreed that Russia and the USA could have a joint investigation through a joint working group on cybersecurity.

President Putin also did not answer the question directly whether Russia had compromising materials on President Trump. “There are many prominent businessmen visiting Moscow; at that time I did not know who the president (Trump) was when he visited.“

President Putin also emphasized that, “President Trump defends the interest of the USA and I defend the interests of Russia. We are looking for areas where we can cooperate.”
“We should be guided by facts, not rumors.” he continued.

When President Trump was asked by a journalist if President Putin was an adversary or rival.  
He answered, “No, he’s my competitor. And a good one. That’s a compliment.”

US and Russia as two largest nuclear powers in the world

“Consider that 90% of nuclear power is between two countries, Russia and the US,”  President Trump reiterated when probed deeper on the trust issues, emphasizing that these should not impact any relationship between the two largest nuclear powers in the world.

President Putin pointed out that as major nuclear powers, we bear special responsibility for maintaining international security. “It’s vital — and we mentioned this during the negotiations — it’s crucial that we fine-tune the dialogue on strategic stability and global security and nonproliferation on weapons of mass destruction. We submitted to our American colleagues a note with a number of specific suggestions. We believe it necessary to work together further to interact on the disarmament agenda, military and technical cooperation. This includes the extension of the Strategic Offensive Arms Limitation Treaty. It’s a dangerous situation with the global American anti-missile defense system. It’s the implementation issue with the INF Treaty. And of course the agenda of non-placement of weapons in space.”

A lone protester Sam Husseini, carrying a ‘Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty’ was forcibly removed from the press conference area. The Guardian reported that Husseini is “communications director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, which seeks to expand the reach of progressive organizations in the media.” As he was escorted out by Finnish security and US secret services personnel outside the hall, he shouted “Is this a free press? You people are goons.”

Finnish president optimistic of the summit outcome

President Niinistö in the following meeting with mostly Finnish media claimed that  the two leaders are prepared to discuss the issues. “In spite of everything, dialogue is important. I hope they find answers to the questions today.”

Although there were questions on the role of NATO was brought up when a Finnish journalist asked how President Trump can be trusted when he is a vocal supporter of the coal industry.
Niinistö said that the US president understood and even answered during their Washington meeting that the best environmental argument he has heard was “when black carbon covers snow or ice, it has  serious consequences.”

Common goals to re-establish the working group on anti-terrorism

President Putin said: “We mentioned a plethora of regional crises, not always that our postures dovetail exactly, and yet the overlapping and mutual interests abound. We have to look for points of contact and interact closer in a variety of international forums”.

“As far as Syria is concerned, the task of establishing peace and reconciliation in this country could be the first showcase example of the successful joint work.”

Niinistö said that Finland is the most stable and the most free country in the world that’s why the conference was held here, thanking ordinary Finnish people.

In ending the one day talk, President Putin bounced a World cup football to the US President, who passed it onto Melania Trump for their son, Baron.

View expressed in this article are of the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Pajhwok’s editorial policy.

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