Just a few hours before the start of the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US president harshly criticized Washington’s policy toward Moscow and the “Russia probe” against him as damaging bilateral relations.
US President Donald Trump slammed the actions of his predecessor, saying on his Twitter that Barack Obama didn’t properly address reports of the alleged “Russian meddling” in the 2016 Presidential elections, adding that the issue was politically motivated from the very beginning.
He also stated that the investigation of the alleged Russian interference was one of the reasons behind the worsening relations between Moscow and Washington over the last few years.
Last week the Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged 12 Russian citizens, who allegedly worked for the Russian intelligence service, with involvement in the 2016 presidential elections. They were accused of hacking the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Addressing the statement, Trump told reporters that he may ask his Russian counterpart to extradite people indicted as part of the probe.
The charges were presented just a few days before the long-awaited Putin-Trump Summit in Helsinki, which is set to start on Monday.
The tete-a-tete talks between Trump and Putin in Helsinki will be held for three hours on Monday. The leaders to discuss bilateral ties and various issues on the international agenda. The summit will be their first full-fledged meeting since Trump took office in January 2017, as both Presidents previously met only on the sidelines of the international events.
Source: Sputnik
