Helsinki, July 16 (UNI) US President Donald Trump on Monday described his one-on-one talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "very good start".
"Very good start," Trump said in reply to journalists’ request to comment on the talks which lasted more than two hours. He hoped for an "extraordinary relationship".
At the moment, the leaders are holding a larger meeting attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, among others.
Earlier, Trump blamed US-Russia tensions on previous administrations.
Relations were severely strained by Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and by claims that Russia helped Mr Trump win the 2016 election.
Some US politicians called for the summit to be cancelled after 12 Russian military intelligence agents were charged on Friday with hacking the presidential campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Russia has also been criticised in the US because of its military support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
UNI SRJ