Putin, Trump talk various issues in 1st first face-to-face meeting

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 6:27PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump have held their first meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany, and reportedly exchanged viewpoints on a host of international problems and bilateral issues.

Sitting next to Putin on the sidelines of the economic summit in the northern German city of Hamburg on Friday, Trump voiced optimism that there would be "very positive things" in store for the relations between Washington and Moscow, and that it was "an honor" to be with Putin.

"We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia and the United States," Trump said.

The US president did not provide any further details about the array of issues he and the Russian leader had conferred, simply terming them as "various things."

Putin, speaking to reporters through a translator, stated that he had discussed the foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, clashes in eastern Ukraine as well as fight against terrorism with Trump.

The Russian president went on to say that cyber security was also among topics he talked with his US counterpart.

The White House said in advance that the meeting was initially planned to last for 35 minutes, but it extended well beyond that and clocked in at two hours and 16 minutes.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were also present at the meeting.

Earlier in the day, Putin had said that face-to-face meetings between Russian and US leaders were essential in case Moscow and Washington wanted to sort out critical issues together.

"Phone conversations are never enough definitely," Putin said. "If you want to have a positive outcome in bilateral ties and be able to resolve most international policy issues, that will really need personal meetings."