A diplomatic dust-up immediately broke out after a two-hour meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in which they discussed interference in US elections and an agreement on curbing violence in Syria.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin's assurances there was no Russian involvement in the 2016 American election. A senior Trump administration official immediately denied that Trump accepted Putin's claim of non-interference.
The dispute only underscores the challenges that remain in the fraught relationship between the United States and Russia, whose 2016 election meddling has hung over the Trump White House for months as multiple investigations proceed in Washington.
"They had a very robust and lengthy exchange on the subject," US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in an off-camera briefing after the meeting. "The President pressed President Putin on more than one occasion regarding Russian involvement. President Putin denied such involvement, as I think he has in the past."
Lavrov, speaking on camera in a separate briefing, said that Trump was OK with Putin's version of events.
Tillerson, who sat in on the discussion between the two leaders, said Trump and Putin did agree to a ceasefire in southwest Syria. The ceasefire was a "defined agreement" and could be a precursor to further cooperation in Syria.
"This is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria," Tillerson said.
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