World

Donald Trump: Time to work more constructively with Russia

July 9, 2017 4:28 pm

US President Donald Trump says it is time to work “constructively” with Russia after his meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

He tweeted that Mr Putin “vehemently denied” interfering in the US election at their first face-to-face encounter at the G20 on Friday.

But Mr Trump’s position contrasts with some of his own senior officials.
And he is facing criticism from within his party after revealing a proposal to partner with Russia on online security.

He tweeted that he and Mr Putin had discussed forming “an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking and many other negative things will be guarded and safe”, prompting derision on social media and from the Republican Party.

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Senator Marco Rubio suggested that such an initiative would be like partnering with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on chemical weapons.

The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley said the US “can’t trust Russia” and “won’t ever trust Russia”.
She told CNN that talking to Russia should never mean that the US “take our eyes off the ball”.
And US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said interference in the 2016 election remained an impediment to better relations with Russia.