Trump: "I can not say what is happening with Crimea"

US President Donald Trump did not decide at the NATO summit whether the United States would recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea. He can not say what will happen to the Crimea today, Trump answered a similar question at the closing press conference in Brussels

The annexation of the Black Sea peninsula in 2014 was held under the chairmanship of his predecessor Barack Obama. He would not have allowed that, and he was "not happy" about it, Trump said. "What's going on from that moment, I can not say it," he added.

Trump wants Putin to be "a friend"

Trump also said that he wanted Putin to be a "friend". The first bilateral meeting with the Kremlin boss on Monday in Helsinki "could be the easiest of my trip to Europe," said Trump. He said Putin could also talk about the end of US military exercises to protect NATO partners in the Baltic countries.

Trump expressed his hopes for the summit. Putin is not his enemy, he is his competitor and, hopefully, will one day be a friend, according to the US president. He announced that he would talk with the Kremlin leader of Syria, of Ukraine, as well as interference in US elections, but also arms control. The ultimate goal with Putin would be that there are more nuclear weapons and more conflicts in the world.