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Trump Had ‘Tremendous Meeting’ with Putin, Eyes Swift UK Trade Deal | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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US President Donald Trump meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May in the White House Oval Office in Washington, US, January 27, 2017. Reuters


Fresh from his lengthy head-to-head encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump on Saturday was meeting with a long list of world leaders, as he wraps up his second trip abroad.

Trump said he had a “tremendous meeting” with Putin as he sat alongside British Prime Minister Theresa May for a morning exchange on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

It marked Trump’s first comments on his high-profile talks with Putin in which he raised the issue of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 elections and discussed plans for a ceasefire agreement in Syria.

Noting his “special relationship” with May, the president said his visit to Britain will go ahead.

He added that he and May were working on a trade agreement that he described as a “very, very big deal, very powerful, great deal for both countries.”

May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump at the White House and he told her he would soon “be going to London” once details were worked out.

Independent trade negotiations between the two countries are a possibility as Britain exits the European Union — a move Trump has supported.

Trump’s long list of meetings with world leaders on Saturday included President Xi Jinping of China, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore.

He also attended a women’s entrepreneurial finance event, a project spearheaded by his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders also attended.

Trump praised Merkel for organising the G20 summit, despite violent protests that blocked his wife Melania for hours.

Merkel organised the summit “so professionally and without much interruption despite a few people (who) seemed to follow your G20s around,” said Trump, telling Merkel that she has “been amazing and done a fantastic job”.