Putin, Trump Meet at G20 Summit, Discuss Syria, Ukraine, Fight against Terrorism

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have held a much-anticipated first meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany, which lasted more than two hours.

According to RT, the meeting in Hamburg was initially planned to last for around 30-40 minutes, international media reported earlier in the day.

The situation in Syria, the Ukraine as well as cyber security were discussed at the meeting, the Russian president told reporters after his talks with Trump ended.

“We’ve had a very long discussion with the US president. Many issues accrued, including Ukraine, Syria and other problems, as well as some bilateral issues,” Putin said.

“Fighting terrorism, cyber security” were also on the table, the Russian leader added.

 He was speaking ahead of his next meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it’s going very well,” Trump told the media during the photo session.

 “We’ve had some very, very good talks, we are going to have a talk now and obviously that will continue,” Trump added, saying there are hopes of “a lot of very positive things happening.”

“It’s an honor to be with you, thank you,” Trump concluded, offering his hand to Putin.

Addressing Trump, Putin then said that although the two leaders have “several times talked over the phone, including on some very important bilateral and international issues,” phone talks were “obviously not enough.”

Meetings in person are “necessary” if the two countries want to resolve the “most pressing issues,” Putin added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, were also present at the meeting.

Putin and Trump agree on “ceasefire” in Syria

The Russian Itar Tass News Agency quoted Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Friday after the talks of Russian and US presidents, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, that Russia and the United States have agreed on a “ceasefire” in the south of Syria from 12.00 Damascus time on July 9.

“A ceasefire will come into force in that zone (Syria’s south – Daraa and Quneitra) at 12.00 Damascus time on July 9,” he said. “The United States has made a commitment that all the groups present there will observe the ceasefire.”

The security in the de-escalation zone in the south of Syria will be ensured by the Russian military police in coordination with the US and Jordan, he went on.

“At first, the security around this zone will be ensured with the use of the personnel and resources of the Russian military police,” Lavrov said.

H.M