Trump Putin Vietnam
Trump and Putin having a chat in Vietnam
Russian President Vladimir Putin is steadfastly denying that his country meddled in the 2016 White House race, President Trump told reporters Saturday.

Trump and Putin briefly spoke several times while in Vietnam for a regional economic summit, as part of the U.S. president's 12-day trip to Asia

"He said he didn't meddle," Trump afterward told reporters, aboard Air Force One. "He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. I just asked him again. He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did."

trump putin apec
"Every time he sees me he says, 'I didn't do that,' and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. But he says, 'I didn't do that.' I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country," also said Trump, who deflected answering a direct question about whether he believed Putin's denial.

Trump and Putin were in together in Danang, Vietnam, for the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. They have no plans to hold a formal meeting during Trump's five-nation trip the concludes this weekend.

Trump told reporters on the flight from Danang to Hanoi that he and Putin largely discussed Syria in their "two or three very short conversations."

At about the same time, the Kremlin issued a joint statement for both presidents about the countries' "successful" and continuing efforts to defeat the Islamic State terror group, or ISIS, in Syria, the caliphate's last stronghold.

In Syria's years-long civil war, Putin has backed the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al Assad, while Western allies have supported his ousters.

"I would rather have him get out of Syria," Trump told reporters. "If we had a relationship with Russia, that would be a good thing. In fact, it would be a great thing, not a bad thing."