Trump reveals details of 'secret meeting' with Putin

US President Donald Trump recounted in an interview with the New York Times that he had spoken with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on an informal occasion in Hamburg.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin shook hands at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Earlier, the media reported that Putin and Trump held a "secret" meeting at the G20 summit.

"Trump said they spoke for about 15 minutes, essentially just 'exchanging pleasantries'," the New York Times wrote.

According to President Trump, during dinner, US First Lady Melania Trump sat next to President Putin at the other end of the table, where G20 leaders were gathered that day.

Dinner came to dessert. I approached just to say hello to Melania and because the dinner was there, I also said hello to Mr. Putin… In fact, it was just a social exchange, nothing more than that. It was a short conversation, maybe 15 minutes. The interesting thing was that we talked about adoption," the US leader said specifically.

Dinner at the G20 summit.

Following the announcement of the "secret meeting" between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin, the White House accused reporters of "vile and absurd" slander. The US President himself complained that the media "made the entire G20 leaders' dinner look bad."

On July 19, Mr. Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian President, said that Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump had "sideline" exchanges during the two days at the summit, and there was no "secret" meeting between the two heads of state.

According to Sputnik