Donald Trump finally had a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit where he reportedly confronted his Russian counterpart about their interference during the 2016 presidential election of the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was present during the bilateral talks, delivered two contradicting statements after the meeting.
Tillerson claimed the U.S. president discussed other topics after the Russian president denied their involvement in the election hacking. Meanwhile, Lavrov seemingly indicated that Trump accepted Putin's version of the controversy.
His statement was supported by Putin who believed that the American leader considered and agreed to his explanation.
The Russian leader, however, thought it is still best to personally hear Trump's opinion of the election meddling after their bilateral talks in London.
Trump 'did not believe' Putin
After hearing Tillerson and Lavrov's contrasting stories of the meeting, Reince Priebus insisted that the POTUS is not convinced that Russia did not interfere during the 2016 presidential election. In an interview with Fox News, the White House chief of staff clarified that the U.S. leader still believes that Russia, China, and North Korea were behind the election hacking.
She also underlined Trump's effort to press his Russian counterpart over the issue.
Priebus said the U.S. president asked Putin about the meddling at least twice before they continued to discuss other topics.
...We negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria which will save lives. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 July 2017
I strongly pressed President Putin twice about Russian meddling in our election. He vehemently denied it. I've already given my opinion.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 July 2017
Priebus clarified Trump's statements did not mean he is clearing Russia of their involvement in U.S.
election hacking. "You can walk and chew gum at the same time. We need to move forward and maybe work with Russia on bringing peace to Syria," she added.
Putin was trying to 'save face' during meeting with Trump
Nikki Haley accused the Russian president of trying to avoid humiliation by denying their involvement in the election meddling.
During an interview with CNN, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said there is no doubt Russia was behind the interference which has been the subject of several White House investigations for the past couple of months.
"Everybody knows that Russia meddled in our elections. Everybody knows that they're not just meddling in the United States' election," she said. She even accused Russia of interfering not only in the U.S. but also in other countries. "They're doing this in a way that they're trying to cause chaos within the countries."
Haley claimed Trump's intention for the bilateral talks was to let Putin know that he is aware of their meddling. She even added that it was expected for the Russian leader to deny the confrontational questions.
