US intelligence: Putin-Trump meeting far exceeded Russia's expectations
(Baonghean.vn) - According to intelligence sources, the Russian side was particularly pleased with the joint press conference of the two leaders in Helsinki, Finland.
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| US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Photo: AP |
Intelligence agencies in the United States and other Western countries have concluded that the Helsinki summit between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump exceeded Moscow's expectations, CNN reported on August 14, citing intelligence sources.
“US and Western intelligence agencies have found that Russian officials were ‘pleased’ with the Helsinki summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, according to two intelligence sources familiar with the assessments,” CNN said, adding that “the assessments, based on a wide range of intelligence, suggest the Kremlin believes the July 16 summit produced a better outcome than it had previously hoped, but Moscow is embarrassed that Trump did not offer more Russia-friendly policies afterward.”
According to intelligence sources, “the Russians were particularly pleased with the press conference the two leaders held in Helsinki after Trump and Putin met for about two hours without the participation of subordinates and accompanied only by interpreters.”
“At a 45-minute press conference, Trump discredited US intelligence and US policies, saying that 'the US has been stupid' about relations with Russia,” CNN noted.
“A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment,” the channel added.
Putin-Trump Summit
The first formal talks between Putin and Trump took place in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16. The one-on-one meeting between the two presidents lasted for more than two hours. Afterwards, members of the two delegations joined the presidents for an extended working lunch. This extended session also lasted about two hours, with discussions covering important bilateral and global issues. Both leaders said after the summit that great progress had been made.
Commenting on the summit results, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow still expects constructive relations to be established with the US and other Western countries, even though they appear reluctant to move in that direction.
Meanwhile, Trump faced heavy criticism in the US when the media affirmed that he did not take a tough stance regarding the accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
