Putin and I had ‘good discussions’ at Apec summit: Trump

US president Donald Trump said he had ‘good discussions’ with Russian leader Vladimir Putin when they met briefly at an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam.

On Twitter, he blasted ‘haters and fools’, who, he said, do not encourage good relations between the countries.

Earlier he said Putin told him he was insulted by allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election.

The US intelligence community has previously concluded that Russia tried to sway the poll in Trump's favour.

The two leaders had no formal bilateral talks during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation event, but met in passing on three occasions. They spoke about the Syria crisis and the election allegations, according to Trump.

‘He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election,’ the US president said.

Trump, who defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, said the allegations were a ‘Democratic hit job’.

In his tweets, he also said his predecessor, Barack Obama lacked ‘chemistry’ with president Putin.

The US justice department has appointed special investigator Robert Mueller to examine any possible collusion involving Trump's team, and legal action has already been taken against several former aides.

President Trump has refused to acknowledge a reported assessment by the CIA and other intelligence agencies that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee in the run-up to last year's presidential election.

The contents of the emails, passed to Wikileaks and posted online, were embarrassing to the Democrats and shook up the presidential campaign, which ended in defeat for Hillary Clinton.

In addition to the Mueller inquiry, congressional committees have been set up to carry out their own investigations.

Relations between the US and Russia have been strained for years, with the Kremlin long accusing Washington of seeking to sway elections in Russia and other ex-Soviet states including Ukraine and Georgia.

While Russian hackers are widely suspected of involvement, there has been no conclusive link to the Kremlin.

Denying that Russia had tried to interfere last year by fostering contacts with Trump's campaign, Putin told reporters in Vietnam: ‘Everything about the so-called Russian dossier in the US is a manifestation of a continuing domestic political struggle.’

He said he believed Putin had been ‘very insulted by’ the allegations and that was ‘not a good thing’ for America.

‘He [Putin] said he didn't meddle,’ he added. ‘I asked him again.’

Asked if he believed Putin, he replied, ‘He is very, very strong in the fact that he didn't do it. You have president Putin very strongly, vehemently says he has nothing to do with that. Now, you are not going to get into an argument, you are going to start talking about Syria and the Ukraine.’

Trump and Putin met for the first time in July at a G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg. In Da Nang they were seen chatting briefly on three occasions within 24 hours during the Apec summit.

However, they had no formal bilateral meeting, with Putin blaming it on scheduling and protocol.

They had warm words for each other, with the US president talking of their mutual ‘very good feeling’ and the Russian leader describing his counterpart as ‘well-mannered... and comfortable to deal with’.

They did manage to sign off a statement vowing to continue the battle against so-called Islamic State in Syria until the militants are defeated and calling for a political solution to the conflict.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net