Had a very, very good meeting with Putin: Trump
US President Donald Trump said he had a very good meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, during which they discussed a wide range of bilateral and global issues. Trump, who returned to the US on Monday after his first summit meeting with Putin in Helsinki, said the two leaders are planning to have more meetings in the future. Here's more.
Trump says they talked about Iran, Syria among others
During the two-and-a-half-hour-long meeting, Trump said he and Putin discussed numerous things, including the Middle East, Syria, and Iran. "I entered the negotiations with President Putin from a position of tremendous strength. Our economy is booming and our military is being funded $700bn this year, $716bn next year. It will be more powerful as a military than we've ever had before," he said.
Iran nuclear deal was one of the worst: Trump
The US ended the Iran nuclear deal, which was one of the worst deals anyone could imagine, Trump said, adding this has had a major impact on Iran and it has substantially weakened Iran.
Trump believes Iran can solve its problems dealing with US
Trump said he hoped that at some point Iran will call the US to make a new deal. "Iran is not the same country that it was five months ago. They're no longer looking so much to the Mediterranean and the entire Middle-East. They've got some big problems that they can easily solve if they deal with the US," he said.
Major discussion was North Korea's denuclearization
Trump said he and Putin discussed Israel and its security. A major topic of discussion was North Korea and the removal of its nuclear weapons. "Russia has assured us of its support, President Putin said he agrees with me 100% and they'll do whatever they have to do to make it happen," he said, adding that there is no rush for talks with N-Korea.
Sanctions on the North, however, have not been lifted
"The sanctions are remaining, the hostages are back, there have been no tests, no rockets going up for a period of nine months and I think the relationships are very good, we'll see how that goes," Trump said, adding that they have no time limit.
US, Russia possess 90% of world's total nuclear weapons
According to Trump, perhaps the most important issue they discussed was the reduction of nuclear weapons throughout the world. The United States and Russia have 90% of the total nuclear weapons and it could have a big impact, he said. Describing nuclear weapons as the greatest threat to the world today, he underscored the need to do something about it.
