Osaka: US President Donald Trump playfully warned Russia President Vladimir Putin to not meddle in US elections, during talks on the margins of G-20 Summit. According to CNN, when Trump was asked by reporters if he would raise the issue of US election inference with Putin, he laughed and told the Russian leader "Don't meddle in the election," wagging his finger.
Trump held talks with Putin on the sidelines of the summit. Trump said he enjoyed a "very, very good relationship" with Putin, and said, "many positive things are going to come out of the relationship." "We have many things to discuss, including trade and some disarmament, some little protectionism, in a very positive way," Trump said.
Democrats have accused Moscow of meddling in the elections to ensure Trump's victory. After a lot of protests, Senior Counsel Robert Mueller was asked to look into "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the 2016 campaign of Trump".
The redacted version of the report Mueller's 22-month investigation was released last month by Attorney General William Barr. Barr told that report found no evidence that US President Donald Trump's campaign team "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.
"I'll have a very good conversation with him," Trump told reporters at the White House as he was departing for Japan. But he declined to detail what he might say regarding election meddling, or whether he would raise it at all. "What I say to him is none of your business," Trump said.
This is the two leaders first meeting after Trump cancelled the talks with Putin, which were scheduled to be held in Argentina on the sidelines of the G20 summit in December 2018. Since then, Trump phoned Putin in May just after the Mueller report was released.
"All the topics were set out, we have not seen each other in a while, since the Helsinki meeting (in July 2018). It is true that our administrations worked and gave us a great opportunity to continue what we were agreeing on in Helsinki," TASS quoted Putin as saying."
