Helsinki summit yields no concrete output

No significant outcome resulted from the Monday’s meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump held in Helsinki, although both the presidents expressed their satisfaction after the summit.

At a post-summit joint press briefing Trump termed the meeting a very constructive one while Putin said it was a first important step towards a brighter future.

To a query from reporters about alleged meddling with US elections by Russia, Putin said, “Could you name a single fact that would definitively prove the collusion? This is nonsense.” He said there is no evidence when it comes to actual facts. “We have to be guided by facts not by rumours,” said Putin, pointing out his experience as a former intelligence officer.

He also rejected straightway the allegation that Trump colluded with Russia in the presidential campaign of 2016, saying “Russia has never interfered and is not going to interfere in American internal affairs.”

On the allegation that Trump sided with Putin by openly questioning his own intelligence agencies’ findings that Moscow was behind the last presidential elections of America, the US president said, “President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it would be.”

Both the presidents said they agreed to cooperate to resolve the Syria crisis, although they did not disclose any specific development in this regard.

“As we have discussed, the crisis in Syria is a complex one. But our cooperation between the two countries has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives,” said Trump.

The Russian president urged Trump to initiate a joint endeavour to resolve the Syrian conflict. He said, “Russia and the US can take the lead on this issue in this country and work together to overcome the humanitarian crisis.”

Putin also said both the countries emphasised working together on various issues, including extension of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the dangerous situation surrounding the development of elements of the global system of American missile defence, and the implementation of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, as well as avoiding weapons being placed in space.

News agency Xinhua adds: No progress was made towards a joint stance on Crimea. Putin said the US leader’s stance on Crimea was “well-known” and said Trump “continues to maintain that it was illegal to annex it.”

“Our viewpoint is different,” Putin concluded.

“Today’s meeting is only the beginning of a longer process, but we have taken the first steps towards a brighter future,” Trump said.

“Of course, numerous problems remain, and we could not clear all the debris,” said Putin.