Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are holding a much anticipated face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg.
“We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everyone concerned,” the US president said as journalists were briefly allowed in to witness part of the meeting. “It’s an honour to be with you.”
The Russian president replied: “I’m delighted to be able to meet you personally Mr President. And I hope as you have said, our meeting will yield concrete results.”
In characteristically confident fashion, Trump said he and Putin were holding “very, very good talks”.
The leaders were joined by Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, and Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister for the meeting, which is taking place against an inauspicious backdrop. On Thursday the US president accused Russia of acting as a destabilising force determined to test the will of the west.
Outside on the streets of Germany’s second biggest city police, clashed with protesters on a second day of anti-capitalist demonstrations.
Trump offered no details about what issues had been discussed so far, describing them only as “various things”. Putin was similarly vague, telling reporters through a translator that they were discussing international problems and bilateral issues.
Still, Putin described the fact that they were meeting at all as a positive sign in itself. “Phone conversation is never enough,” he said.
After those comments the leaders shook hands firmly but briefly before reporters were escorted out of the room. Trump did not respond to shouted questions about whether they would discuss Russia’s meddling in the US election – a topic politicians in Washington have been demanding that Trump raise directly.
Russian government sources had briefed that the talks would focus on the Syrian and Ukrainian conflicts, the war on terror, strategic security and bilateral issues. Likely flashpoints included North Korea’s successful ballistic missile test and the use by the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, of chemical weapons.
Earlier in the day Trump and Putin shook hands and exchanged pleasantries – an encounter captured in a video and posted to Facebook by the German cabinet.
As officials gathered around a table, Trump stretched out his hand to Putin and then patted his elbow as both men smiled. Trump then casually patted Putin on the back as they stood side by side.
On Thursday Trump had used a speech in Warsaw to urge Russia to “cease its destabilising activities in Ukraine and elsewhere, and its support for hostile regimes including Syria and Iran”.
The US president called on Russia to “join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and in defence of civilisation itself”.
There are some frustrations in the camp of the German host, Angela Merkel, that her carefully prepared summit agenda, including a compact to build private investment for Africa, is being overshadowed by the hype surrounding Trump and Putin.
The US team, stung by allegations of cronyism when Lavrov met Trump in the Oval Office, tried to make the meeting appear as businesslike as possible. The aim was present the meeting as a formal bilateral rather than the previously planned informal discussion.
Have Trump and Putin met before?
We know for sure that Friday's meeting was their first since Trump became president, but it is not clear whether it was their first ever.
Over the past few years, Trump has variously claimed to have either met Putin and “got along great”, or to have never met him.
His account of their relationship began to change during the US election campaign:
• 2013: David Letterman asks Trump whether he has met Putin personally. "He's a tough guy. I met him once," Trump replies.
• 2015: Talk-radio host Michael Savage asks Trump point-blank whether he has ever met Putin. "Yes," Trump says. "One time, yes. Long time ago." He adds: "Got along with him great, by the way."
• November 2015: Trump says he got to know Putin "very well" during a joint television appearance on 60 Minutes. Trump's segment had been taped in New York, Putin's in Russia.
• July 2016: At height of the election campaign, Trump tells reporters: "I never met Putin, I don't know who Putin is."
• July 2016: Pressed by George Stephanopoulos in an interview on ABC, Trump says: "I don't think I've ever met him. I mean if he's in the same room or something. But I don't think so."
Putin has denied meeting Trump, telling Megyn Kelly on NBC in June: "There was a time when he used to come to Moscow. But you know, I never met with him."
