Tillerson: 'Positive chemistry' between Trump and Putin at first meeting, Russia may have right approach to Syria

RT
Fri, 07 Jul 2017 20:48 UTC

© Steffen Kugler / Reuters

US President Donald Trump opened his much-anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin by raising concerns about Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"They had a very robust and lengthy exchange on the subject," Tillerson said after the two leaders met for two hours on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

"The president pressed President Putin on more than one occasion regarding Russian involvement. President Putin denied such involvement, as I think he has in the past," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that the two leaders discussed the subject.

"President Trump said he heard President Putin's unequivocal statement that [the allegations] are not true, and that the Russian government has not interfered [in the US election], and [Trump] accepts those statements," said Lavrov, adding that the US has not revealed any proof of such interference.

At a press conference in Poland on Thursday, a US reporter asked Trump to unequivocally say that Russia had interfered in the 2016 presidential election, but he declined.

"I think it was Russia, but I think it was probably other people and/or countries, and I see nothing wrong with that statement," he said. "Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure."

The meeting, which was initially planned to last 30 minutes, went on for over two hours.

The leaders discussed many topics, including Ukraine, Syria, cybersecurity and fighting terrorism, according to Putin, who spoke at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe right after his meeting with Trump.

Putin apologized to Abe for making him wait for about an hour.

"Both I and [the US president] owe you an apology," he said.

Meanwhile, Trump and Putin had "positive chemistry" during their first meeting, Tillerson said, adding that there was "so much to talk about" that neither leader "wanted to stop."

First Lady Melania Trump was sent into the meeting at one point to see her husband and "get him out," Tillerson also said. "Clearly, she failed," the top US diplomat joked, adding that the meeting went on for another hour after that.

Comment: More from The Duran:

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson admits that Russia may have a better approach to Syria and the US. He also said that the US and Russia have the same overall goals in Syria.

Rex Tillerson has given an audio interview to reporters after the lengthy meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin which both Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended.

Tillerson spoke of how after getting to know one another, Trump and Putin became immersed in a thoroughly engaging conversation.

Tillerson gave the following description of why the meeting lasted so long,

"...There was so much to talk about, all these issues, just about everything got touched on...there was just such a level of engagement and exchange that neither one of them (Trump and Putin) wanted to stop."

Tillerson continued saying that Melania Trump was sent in at one point to try and get the leaders to conclude their meeting,

"They sent in the first lady to see if she could get us out of there....we went another hour after she came to see us, so clearly she failed (to get the leaders to hurry up)."

Tillerson stated that the bulk of the meeting covered Syria where he said that Russia and the US have the same objectives in Syria but with different views on how to achieve them. He said, that there is

"...more commonality than differences in Syria...maybe they've got the right approach and maybe we've got the wrong approach."

This is something of a startling admission from a US Secretary of State. Tillerson who has met with Putin when he was a businessman seemed to think that the leaders had a very productive meeting in spite of difficult circumstances.