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| Trump sides with Russia against FBI at Helsinki summit | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| US President Donald Trump has defended Russia over claims of interference in the 2016 presidential election. | US President Donald Trump has defended Russia over claims of interference in the 2016 presidential election. |
| After face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr Trump contradicted US intelligence agencies and said there had been no reason for Russia to meddle in the vote. | |
| Mr Putin reiterated that Russia had never interfered in US affairs. | Mr Putin reiterated that Russia had never interfered in US affairs. |
| The two men held nearly two hours of closed-door talks in the Finnish capital Helsinki on Monday. | |
| At a news conference after the summit, President Trump was asked if he believed his own intelligence agencies or the Russian president when it came to the allegations of meddling in the elections. | At a news conference after the summit, President Trump was asked if he believed his own intelligence agencies or the Russian president when it came to the allegations of meddling in the elections. |
| "President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it should be," he replied. | "President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it should be," he replied. |
| US intelligence agencies concluded in 2016 that Russia was behind an effort to tip the scale of the US election against Hillary Clinton, with a state-authorised campaign of cyber attacks and fake news stories planted on social media. | US intelligence agencies concluded in 2016 that Russia was behind an effort to tip the scale of the US election against Hillary Clinton, with a state-authorised campaign of cyber attacks and fake news stories planted on social media. |
| Some US politicians had called for the summit to be cancelled after 12 Russian military intelligence agents were indicted last week by US special counsel Robert Mueller, accused of hacking the presidential campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. | |
| Speaking on Monday, President Putin offered to allow US investigators to visit Russia to question the officers. | |
| He made it clear that, in return, Russia would want similar access to people in the US it suspects of criminal activity. | |
| President Trump said Mr Putin had been "extremely strong and powerful in his denial" of any election meddling. | |
| Trump targets opponents back home | |
| Analysis by Jonathan Marcus, BBC diplomatic correspondent | |
| Before their encounter started Mr Putin was already winning on points, by the mere fact that President Trump was meeting him in the first place. | |
| But while Mr Putin came over as the seasoned professional, eager to present his country as an equivalent to the US in terms of being a nuclear superpower; an energy provider; and a key actor in the Middle East, Mr Trump seemed more intent on castigating his opponents back home. | |
| A lot of the questions focused on Russia's intrusion into the US election campaign (the considered position of the key US intelligence agencies) and specifically the indictment by the Mueller probe of 12 Russian intelligence agents. | |
| Mr Trump would have none of it. He visibly seemed happier with Mr Putin's assurances than he did with the evidence of his own intelligence agencies. And he even welcomed Mr Putin's suggestion that Russia could join the investigation and interview the alleged perpetrators itself! Washington's Nato allies and many seasoned observers on Capitol Hill must have been watching in horror. | |
| Mr Putin described the Helsinki meeting as "candid and useful" while Mr Trump said there had been "deeply productive dialogue". | |
| Mr Trump said US-Russia relations had "never been worse" than before they met, but that had now changed. | |
| Both leaders also said they would work together to help resolve the Syrian crisis. The US and Russia back opposing sides in the eight-year-old civil war. | |
| "Our militaries have gotten along better than our political leaders for a number of years and we get along in Syria too," Mr Trump said. | |
| He added that the US wanted to increase humanitarian aid to the Syrian people. |