Despite criticism of the summit, Trump looks at Putin's next meeting

WASHINGTON / MOSCOW: US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed US forces on Thursday for denouncing the success of their first summit, Trump stating that he was looking forward to their second meeting.

Trump, struggling to calm his failure in the face of Russia's interference in the 2016 US elections at the Helsinki summit, has fallen back on one of his favorite targets – the media – while the American legislators envisaged a new legislative action targeting Moscow.

The Republican president accused the media of distorting comments in which he gave credit to Putin's denials of electoral interference despite the findings of the US intelligence community on the conduct of Moscow.

"The Summit with Russia has been a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media," said Trump, who was criticized by lawmakers from both parties after the summit.

"I look forward to our second meeting to start implementing some of the many things discussed, including terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear proliferation, cyberattacks, trade, terrorism, and more. Ukraine, peace in the Middle East and more, "said Trump.
In Moscow, Vladimir Putin said the "mighty" US forces were trying to sabotage the success of the summit, but he added that he and Trump had begun to improve US-Russian relations.

"Overall, this has been a success and has resulted in useful agreements, of course, let's see how the events will develop," Vladimir Putin told Russian diplomats around the world, without revealing the nature agreements to which he referred. .

"We see that there are forces in the United States that are ready to sacrifice Russian-American relations, to sacrifice them for their ambitions in an internal political battle in the United States," said M . Putin.

Putin did not name names, but spoke of American politicians who placed their "narrow party interests" above the best interests of the United States and were powerful enough to impose their "stories" Questionable to millions of Americans.

Conflicting statements

US Republican and Democrat lawmakers debated Trump's contradictory statements about the summit and what they did not know: exactly what the two leaders discussed at their private meeting and what agreements the where appropriate, have been concluded.

Republicans rejected a motion moved by the Democrats in the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee to summon the American interpreter who attended Trump's meeting with Putin.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell asked two groups of senators to recommend additional measures to prevent future Russian election interference and to hold hearings on an existing law on sanctions against Russia.

US intelligence agencies announced last year that Russia had conducted a campaign of piracy and propaganda against the 2016 US elections to sow discord and denigrate Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Putin denied any interference of this kind.

US National Intelligence Director Dan Coats, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen publicly reaffirmed their confidence in the results after the Helsinki meeting.

In a bill that is gaining momentum in the Senate, sanctions targeting key economic sectors of Russia would quickly come into action if US authorities decide that Moscow would interfere again in an American election.

A number of US lawmakers rejected a Russian proposal, which the White House said it was considering, to question in the United States the Americans wanted by the Kremlin for "illegal activities", including Former US ambbadador to Moscow Michael McFaul and London. based on the financial Bill Browder.

"I do not think there is a member of Congress on either side of the hemicycle who thinks it's smart to require that our former ambbadador, Mr. Browder or anyone else submits to Putin's government talks "Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said. "Because there is no rule of law, as I said, in Russia, there is just Putin's rule".
US Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell said that if Trump allowed the Russians to question McFaul, "you can count on me and millions of others to make you an ex-president."

Republican Senator Marco Rubio urged the White House on Twitter to "exclude it publicly and unequivocally".

McFaul, ambbadador to Russia under former Democratic president Barack Obama and a critic of Trump and Putin, expressed deep concern that the White House did not defend it.

US prosecutors have presented increasing evidence regarding Russian interference in the elections. Special advocate Robert Mueller got Friday the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence agents accused of hacking democratic computer networks in 2016 as part of a vast conspiracy.