Trump at Putin summit

GLASGOW, Scotland (Reuters) – If US President Donald Trump was inclined to be an attempt when raising election meddling with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking in 2016 has made that approach a much harder sell.

A federal grand jury on Friday alleged that officers of Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, Trump's rival, Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton.

Putin, who has denied making efforts to intervene in the U.S. election that Trump, a Republican, unexpectedly won.

Trump has called the investigation into a condition of his affair with Moscow to "witch hunt" and has been shown to be along with his Russian counterpart, repeatedly referring to the KGB leader's denials of such behavior.

"Trump has maybe a little less room to maneuver if he wants to downplay the issue or claim that it's not real," said Jeffrey Mankoff, a Russia expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Trump has said he plans to raise the issue. Trump said "yes."

But the president indicated he did not expect much progress on the issue. "I will absolutely bring that up," Trump told reporters. "I do not think you'll have any 'Gee, I did it. I did it. You got me. '"

Critics said they were skeptical Trump would be the outcome, despite the indictments.

"Even with today's news, we can expect Trump to raise Putin's attack on our democracy in a passing, perfunctory way before taking – or at least claiming to take -" said Ned Price, to train National Security Council Spokesman for President Barack Obama.

Democratic lawmakers urged Trump to cancel the get-together with Putin. The president is spending the weekend at his golf course in Scotland before leaving on Sunday for Helsinki, where the meeting is scheduled to take place.

The White House said the release of the charges would not affect the summit.

"The announcement has no impact on Monday's meeting," said Garrett Marquis, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

But the meeting, and the extent of Trump's emphasis on election meddling, could highlight a divide between him and his own advisers, not to mention other Republicans, about the seriousness of Russia's activities.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and national security advisor John Bolton, at least prior to joining the White House. And the administration's general policy towards Russia is hired by the rhetoric employed by Trump, who has recently suggested that the Group of Seven is now part of the bloc of industrialized countries for annexing Crimea from Ukraine.

"The administration has a pretty good policy toward Russia," said Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia under Obama. "