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Trump says Putin insulted by US election meddling claim Trump says Putin insulted by US election meddling claim
(about 2 hours later)
President Vladimir Putin felt insulted by allegations of Russian interference in the US election, Donald Trump has said after meeting him briefly at an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam. President Vladimir Putin feels insulted by allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election, Donald Trump has said after meeting him briefly at an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam.
"You can only ask so many times... he said he absolutely did not meddle in our election," the US president said."You can only ask so many times... he said he absolutely did not meddle in our election," the US president said.
Mr Putin later dismissed the allegations as "political infighting".Mr Putin later dismissed the allegations as "political infighting".
The US intelligence community has already concluded that Russia tried to sway the poll in favour of Mr Trump.The US intelligence community has already concluded that Russia tried to sway the poll in favour of Mr Trump.
The US justice department has appointed special investigator Robert Mueller to examine any possible co-ordination from Mr Trump's team, and several key former aides have already been named. The US justice department has appointed special investigator Robert Mueller to examine any possible collusion involving Mr Trump's team, and legal action has already been taken against several former aides.
Last month, campaign adviser George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the timing of meetings with alleged go-betweens for Russia. What are the allegations against Russia?
Former campaign manager Paul Manafort and an associate were also placed under house arrest on charges of money laundering which are unrelated to the election. President Trump has refused to acknowledge a reported assessment by the CIA and other intelligence agencies that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in the run-up to last year's presidential election.
Mr Trump said on Saturday he had had "two or three" brief conversations with his Russian counterpart at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit in the port city of Da Nang. The contents of the emails, passed to Wikileaks and posted online, were embarrassing to the Democrats and shook up the presidential campaign, which ended in defeat for Hillary Clinton.
"He [Putin] said he didn't meddle. He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again," he told reporters on Air Force One as he headed to Hanoi. In addition to the Mueller inquiry, congressional committees have been set up to carry out their own investigations.
He said he believed Mr Putin was "very insulted by" the allegations, which was "not a good thing for our country". Relations between the US and Russia have been strained for years, with the Kremlin long accusing Washington of seeking to sway elections in Russia and other ex-Soviet states including Ukraine and Georgia.
President Trump has refused to acknowledge consensus from the US intelligence community that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in the run-up to the election. While Russian hackers are widely suspected of involvement, there has been no conclusive link to the Kremlin.
It is alleged that hackers released thousands of DNC emails aimed at tipping the election in his favour and against his rival, Hillary Clinton. Denying that Russia had tried to interfere last year by fostering contacts with Mr Trump's campaign, Mr Putin told reporters in Vietnam: "Everything about the so-called Russian dossier in the US is a manifestation of a continuing domestic political struggle."
Also on Saturday, Mr Putin dismissed accusations of Russian interference through contacts with Mr Trump's campaign team, telling reporters: "Everything about the so-called Russian dossier in the US is a manifestation of continuing domestic political struggle." What does Mr Trump say to the allegations?
A formal bilateral meeting between the two presidents at the Apec summit had been widely expected, but Mr Putin later said scheduling and protocol issues had got in the way. He said he believed Mr Putin had been "very insulted by" the allegations and that was "not a good thing" for America.
He said he regretted not talking to his American counterpart for longer, and that the absence of an individual meeting had shown "that relations between Russia and the US have not yet come out of a state of crisis". "He [Putin] said he didn't meddle," he added. "I asked him again."
During the two-day summit, the pair did manage to sign off a statement vowing to continue the battle against so-called Islamic State in Syria until the militants are defeated and calling for a political solution to the conflict. Mr Trump has consistently denied any collusion with Russia during the election campaign, at one point tweeting: "Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory!"
They were seen chatting briefly on three occasions: at two traditional photo opportunities and just before the summit dinner on Friday. How did the two presidents get on in Vietnam?
They both offered praise for one another, with President Trump saying: "We seem to have a very good feeling for each other, a good relationship considering we don't know each other well." Mr Trump and Mr Putin met for the first time in July at a G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg. In Da Nang they were seen chatting briefly on three occasions within 24 hours during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit.
President Putin, meanwhile, described Mr Trump as "a well-mannered person and comfortable to deal with". However, they had no formal bilateral meeting, with Mr Putin blaming it on scheduling and protocol.
They met for the first time in July at the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg. They had warm words for each other, with the US president talking of their mutual "very good feeling" and the Russian leader describing his counterpart as "well-mannered... and comfortable to deal with".
They did manage to sign off a statement vowing to continue the battle against so-called Islamic State in Syria until the militants are defeated and calling for a political solution to the conflict.
How far has US justice department investigation progressed?
Last month, former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to having lied to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about the timing of meetings with alleged go-betweens for Russia.
He testified that Russian nationals had contacted him in an attempt to gain influence with the Trump campaign, offering "dirt" in the form of "thousands of emails" on Mrs Clinton in April 2016 - two months before the DNC emails were leaked.
Mr Trump has played down the importance of Mr Papadopoulos, calling him a "low-level volunteer" and "liar".
On Saturday, Mr Putin brushed aside US media reports that a woman wrongly identified by Mr Papadopoulos as the Russian president's niece had offered to help broker meetings with Kremlin officials.
"I do not know anything about it and I think it is just some fantasies," Mr Putin said.
Mr Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and an associate were also placed under house arrest on charges of money laundering as a result of the Mueller inquiry, but the charges do not relate to the election.