US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met personally for the first time on Friday at the ongoing meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
Trump has stated that he wants to look for means to work with Putin, which has hindered considerable disagreements with Russia's actions in Syria and Ukraine, and allegations placed on Moscow at the 2016 US presidential election.
The tension meeting between Trump and Putin
This signifies that every facial expression, body language, and physical gesture will be critically analyzed as much as what both leaders say. The Kremlin stated that both enjoy a transient handshake at the summit before talks later.
Trump, who has created a rift with world leaders in his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Change agreement, would likely boycott the session to make a Russian meeting. Many are worried that the US president, a newcomer in the political spectrum whose aides are still evolving his Russian policy, would be less prepared for sitting than Putin, who has been into the politics for more than two decades, and has dealt with the last two Presidents of the United States and several other world leaders.
As investigations on Russia alleged interference in the US election continue, and whether Trump's presidential campaign and Russia secretly cooperated, the President Trump is under intense pressure to take tough path against Moscow. The Kremlin has denied any kind of meddling and Trump denies his campaigns cooperated with Russia.
Trump praised for criticizing Moscow
Trump received praises Thursday from some Republicans in the U.S. Congress after a speech in Warsaw in which he urged Russia to stop its "destabilizing activities" and stop supporting Iran and Syria. The remarks were among Trump's sharpest about Moscow since becoming president, though he stopped short of any personal criticism of Putin.
"This is a great start to an important week of US foreign policy," Sen. Lindsey Graham, said. The Senator has often criticized Trump on a number of issues, especially security.
Putin had been informed of Trump's description of Russia's attitude as destabilizing, according to a Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He added that he would consider that and other US officials statement critically. On Thursday, Trump failed to say categorically whether he agrees the US intelligence claims that Russia had intervened in the US 2016 presidential elections.