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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will press Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Moscow's denial of meddling in the 2016 presidential election when the two leaders meet next month, national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday.
Bolton The US elections with Putin during his visit to Moscow on Wednesday, presidential contests.
"The election meddling issue was definitely something we talked about," Bolton told the CBS "Face the Nation" program. Bolton said he brought the 2016 election and Russian activities in upcoming congressional elections.
Speaking about the meddling, Bolton told the "Fox News Sunday" program: "I think it's something that we're concerned about. That's why the president is going to speak to him about it again. "
He said Putin told him that" there was no meddling in 2016 by the Russian state. "
was no meddling at all.
"I think the President will be more than I think that it's a reason why he and President Putin need to have this conversation," he said, adding that "Vladimir Putin is the one who makes the decisions and I think
Trump's praise of Putin has a strong leader and is in favor of forge better relations with Russia. They fear it may be too much during their first official summit in July 16 in Helsinki, Finland.
The Republican president said he would raise the issue of election meddling with Putin as Russia's role in Syria and Ukraine. [nL1N1TV232]
After Trump and Putin puts in Vietnam in November 2017, Trump was criticized in the United States for saying he believed Putin when he denied Russian meddling.
U.S. intelligence hackers had tried to help Trump win the White House, Russia has flatly denied. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump's campaign worked with Moscow. Trump denies any collusion and has called the probe a "witch hunt."
Putin last month said patriotic Russian hackers may have staged cyber attacks against countries that had strained relations with Moscow and denied state intervention – a departure from the Kremlin's previous denials of any Russian interference.
"Trump tweeted last week."
'GLAD PRESIDENT WILL CONFRONT PUTIN'
"I'm concerned when the president tweets, you know, Russia denies they meddled in our election," Republican US Senator Lindsay Graham told NBC's "Meet the Press" program on Sunday . "When they say they did not meddle, they're lying.
"So I'm glad the president is going to confront Putin. Show him the evidence you've got, Mr. President, because it's overwhelming. "
Bolton also said he discussed Russia's annexation of Crimea with Putin and his aides during a 90-minute meeting.
"President Putin was pretty clear with me about it, and my response was to go to Ukraine," he said. "That's not the position of the United States."
Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States in response, and its military intervention in the war in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad are major causes of strain in the two countries' relations.
Asked on Friday if the United States would recognize Crimea as part of Russia, Trump said: "We're going to have to see."
Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Jeffrey Benkoe
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