Putin promises to ‘do everything possible’ to improve relations with US
At a press conference in Osaka, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Kremlin will do everything possible to improve relations with the United States amid diplomatic conflicts arising from the annexation of Crimea, the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, and the accusations of Russian meddling in the US 2016 presidential elections.
Putin described his meeting with Trump as businesslike and pragmatic.
“I think that we have a mutual understanding that we need to somehow get out of this situation as it has developed so far,” the Kremlin’s press service cites Putin as saying. “The meeting [with Trump] was good, extremely businesslike and pragmatic. We practically went through the entire list of issues that represent mutual interest. This also included, incidentally, our economic relations. It was acknowledged that they are in an unsatisfactory condition. We have once again noted American business’s interest in developing trade and economic ties with Russia.”
Trump met with Putin on 28 June during the G20 summit in Osaka. The presidents began their talks in the interval between sessions.
Recently Bloomberg reported that special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling the elections would have been the largest deterrent to Trump’s desire to “get along” with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. Now, with Trump free of Mueller’s shadow, US-Russia relations still have not improved, as there is nothing of significance that the two countries can agree on.