The Kremlin and the White House said Thursday the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will take place in Helsinki on July 16.

The synchronized announcement comes a day after Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton held talks with Russian officials in Moscow to lay the groundwork for the summit.

"An agreement has been reached that on July 16 in Helsinki there will be a meeting between the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the President of the United States Donald Trump," the Kremlin said.

The talks will see the two leaders discuss "the current state and prospects for development of Russian-U.S. relations," according to the release.

A statement from the White House said the men would also broach "a range of national security issues."

Trump said Wednesday that "getting along with Russia and with China and with everybody is a very good thing." He said they would discuss Syria, Ukraine and "many other subjects."

The Russian leader had two brief meetings with Trump on the sidelines of international summits last year, but plans for a full-fledged summit have been thrown back amid the U.S. investigations into alleged collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia.

Trump's national security advisor John Bolton met Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. The two discussed the details of the first full summit between the presidents.

U.S.-Russian relations have hit lows not seen since the Cold War over Moscow's annexation of Crimea, its involvement in eastern Ukraine and allegations of political meddling, as well as disagreement over the Syrian conflict.

Since coming to power last year, Trump has sought to improve relations with Putin amid tensions between Moscow and the West.

Trump said this month that Russia should be re-admitted to the G7 group of industrialized democracies from which it was suspended after annexing Crimea in 2014.

That comment came at a summit which ended in sharp disagreement between Trump and his G7 allies.

The last, brief meeting between Putin and Trump took place in November 2017 in Vietnam during an APEC summit.

Trump is due to attend the July 11 and 12 NATO summit in Brussels before heading to Britain to meet with Prime Minister Theresa May and Queen Elizabeth II on July 13.</s>President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladmir Putin are set to meet on July 16 in Helsinki where the leaders are expected to discuss national security issues as well as the issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Moscow and Washington confirmed the location and date of the summit in coordinated statements released Thursday morning.

"President Donald J. Trump and President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will meet on July 16, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland. The two leaders will discuss relations between the United States and Russia and a range of national security issues," the White House statement said.

CBS News' Mark Knoller reports that this will be the latest in a series of presidential visits to Helsinki for diplomatic talks with their Russian counterparts. Helsinki was the backdrop for President Gerald Ford's meeting with Soviet General Secretary Brezhnev in 1975, President George H.W. Bush's meeting with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 and President Bill Clinton's summit with President Boris Yeltsin in 1997.

Knoller adds that the Helsinki summit will be Mr. Trump's 3rd set of meetings with Putin. They met previously at the G20 in Hamburg in July 2017 and at the APEC Summit in Da Nang, in November 2017.

National Security Adviser John Bolton met in Moscow on Wednesday with the Russian delegation to begin groundwork for the meeting, which a Putin aide confirmed would take place mid-day and last "several hours."

In addition to a one-on-one meeting, there may also be a protocol event, a working breakfast and joint news conference, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said after meetings between Bolton and Russian officials.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Bolton attempted to dispel concerns over the president meeting with Putin, who is at the heart of ongoing probes into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russian interference in the 2016 election.

"I don't think it's unusual for President Trump and President Putin to meet," Bolton told reporters in Moscow. He added, "President Trump believes so strongly that it was time to have this kind of meeting and as you can see, President Putin agreed."

The Kremlin, meanwhile, continues to claim that the Russian government played no role in the election. "It was stated clearly by our side that the Russian state hasn't interfered with the U.S. domestic politics, moreover hasn't interfered in the 2016 election," Ushakov said. On Thursday before news of the summit's location, Mr. Trump backed up that claim, tweeting that Russia was not involved.

Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election! Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2018

The president's claim comes amid numerous accounts by U.S. intelligence officials over the past year that while there's no clear evidence they changed the outcome, Russia had a hand in interfering in the election process by sowing national discord in the United States during the lead-up to the election.

After the meeting, Putin and Mr. Trump may adopt a joint statement on international security issues, including "improving bilateral relations, both in terms of joint actions in the international arena and in terms of ensuring international stability and security," Ushakov said.

Bolton however said that he didn't expect "specific outcomes or decisions" from the meeting.

This is a developing story.</s>MOSCOW President Donald Trump plans to meet President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16 for one-on-one talks, the White House said Thursday, a politically sensitive meeting that will take place while the special counsel continues to investigate the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia.

It will be the first formal summit meeting for Trump and Putin, who have spoken together twice on the sidelines of annual gatherings of world leaders, and it also comes at a particularly delicate moment, with midterm elections looming in the United States.

"The two leaders will discuss relations between the United States and Russia and a range of national security issues," the White House said in a statement.

The Helsinki talks, which will come on the heels of a NATO summit meeting in Brussels on July 11 and 12, could exacerbate U.S. relations with European allies even as it eases tensions with Russia.

Trump this week sent his national security adviser, John R. Bolton, to Moscow, where he met on Wednesday with Putin.

Afterward, an aide to Putin, Yuri Ushakov, reiterated Moscow's denial of trying to influence the United States presidential election in 2016, comments that Trump cited on Thursday in a Twitter post before the announcement of the meeting with Putin.

"Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!" Trump wrote.

The potential for such a high-level meeting has concerned some American allies in Europe, particularly because of recent tensions between the Trump administration and traditional American allies including Canada, France and Germany.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Trump said that it was important to get along with Russia and with other countries.

But a meeting with Putin, with the goal of improving relationships between the United States and Russia, has always appeared to be a priority for Trump.</s>EU leaders agreed to hold their tongues — and their noses — as they brace for U.S. President Donald Trump to barnstorm into Europe.

As leaders convened in Brussels on Thursday for one of their busiest summits in recent memory, Trump provided fresh outrage — an assertion at a rally in North Dakota that “the European Union, of course, was set up to take advantage of the United States.”

It was not, of course. But none of the leaders gathered in the Council’s Europa building voiced any hope of changing the mind of America’s reality-TV-star-in-chief.

Not French President Emmanuel Macron, who initially tried to build a bromance with Trump. Not German Chancellor Angela Merkel who has given him little more than a stink-eye from the start. Nor U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, who will welcome Trump to London next month.

Instead, the leaders used an afternoon conversation about the trade war that Trump ignited by imposing steel and aluminum tariffs to dwell on the larger importance of the transatlantic bond — even if Italy’s beef about the EU’s approach to migration meant that the country’s prime minister was threatening to block any conclusions from the summit.

On Trump, the consensus was to adopt a strategy of containment, to avoid inciting the combustible president, who has made no secret of his disdain for the international order that somehow, in his view, victimized the country that created it.

Even NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who works constantly to safeguard the transatlantic relationship, made no attempt to paper over the divisions. “There are disagreements between European and allies and the United States on issues like trade, the Iran nuclear deal, or climate change,” he told POLITICO in a brief interview. “There is no way to deny that.”

But even as Stoltenberg said he was optimistic those disagreements would be overcome, EU leaders were talking about the U.S. president in the terms NATO usually reserves for Russia: deterrence and dialogue.

Retaliatory tariffs have already gone into effect, and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told leaders he would use a visit to the White House — now expected in late July — to repeat the message the Europeans delivered at the G7 summit earlier this month: that Trump’s trade war is a lose-lose for all. “We are worried but not at war yet,” reported one EU official who listened in on the leaders’ discussion.

In a sign of Europe’s continued engagement, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will visit Washington next week. Trump will then make the reverse trip across the Atlantic a week later, stopping first in Brussels for a NATO leaders’ summit at the alliance’s headquarters, before traveling on to the U.K. and then to Helsinki for a pow-wow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The confirmation on Thursday of the meeting with Putin, to be held the day after the World Cup final in Moscow, injected fresh worry and concern into the EU leaders’ conversation — but also contributed to the sense of resignation that there was little they could do to dissuade Trump from embracing leaders openly antagonistic to the West.

Instead, there was some relief that he would meet Putin after the NATO summit, allowing allies to first voice a common line on issues like the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Syria, as well as the global fight against terrorism.

Still, the sequence of events seems heavy with risk for the EU.

If Trump again pummels NATO allies over military spending, or if he opens new cracks in the collective Western shield, it could deliver an easy own goal — to the benefit of the Russian leader, who has long sought to split Europe and the U.S.

Read this next: Italy stalls EU summit with block on joint conclusions</s>Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are scheduled to hold their first official summit in Helsinki on July 16, according to the White House.

U.S. national security adviser, John Bolton, met with Putin in Moscow and the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections is expected to be on the agenda.

According to The Guardian, U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control and security concerns will also be among the topics the two leaders will discuss.

While all the U.S. intelligent agencies conclude that Russia meddled in the elections, Trump made his position clear ahead of the meeting.

On Twitter, the president raised questions against his intelligent agencies with accusations of corruption and calls for Hillary Clinton’s ties to Russia to be investigated.

“Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election! Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!”

The upcoming summit will be the third meeting between the two leaders but the first formal summit. The last time they met, President Trump said he took Putin’s word that Russia didn’t meddle in the U.S. elections.

Trump and Putin’s first meeting in Hamburg G7 last year ended in controversy. At the dinner, the two leaders had an undisclosed, hour-long meeting with only a Russian translator present.

Trump is expected to discuss Ukraine and Syria conflicts as well as economic sanctions at the Helsinki summit. Many commentators expect the summit to be a symbolic affair similar to the Singapore meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Putin pointed out the U.S.-Russia relations are not their best after meeting with John Bolton.

While Trump seemingly cast doubts on Russia meddling in the election process, officials in his administration have pushed back.

Bolton, who has accused Russia of being untrustworthy in the past, said in Moscow that the optics of a meeting between the two leaders do not connect the Trump campaign to the Russian meddling scandal.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNN during an interview that Trump takes election meddling seriously.

Trump’s public comment on the Russian interference seems to contradict Pompeo’s assertion.</s>Moscow: A long-awaited summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will take place in Helsinki on July 16, the Kremlin and the White House said in simultaneous statements Thursday.



 "An agreement has been reached that on July 16 in Helsinki there will be a meeting between the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the President of the United States Donald Trump," the Kremlin said.

The talks will see the two leaders discuss "the current state and prospects for development of Russian-US relations," according to the release.A statement from the White House said the men would also broach "a range of national security issues".Trump's national security advisor John Bolton met Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. The two discussed the details of the first full summit between the presidents.US-Russian relations have hit lows not seen since the Cold War over Moscow's annexation of Crimea, its involvement in eastern Ukraine and allegations of political meddling, as well as disagreement over the Syrian conflict.Since coming to power last year, Trump has sought to improve relations with Putin amid tensions between Moscow and the West.Trump said this month that Russia should be re-admitted to the G7 group of industrialised democracies from which it was suspended after annexing Crimea in 2014.That comment came at a summit which ended in sharp disagreement between Trump and his G7 allies.The last, brief meeting between Putin and Trump took place in November 2017 in Vietnam during an APEC summit.Trump is due to attend the July 11 and 12 NATO summit in Brussels before heading to Britain to meet with Prime Minister Theresa May and Queen Elizabeth II on July 13.(WAH)</s>The White House announced Thursday morning President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet on July 16 in Helsinki, Finland.

The White House announced Thursday morning President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet on July 16 in Helsinki, Finland. “ The two leaders will discuss relations between the United States and Russia and a range of national security issues,” according to the statement.

The announcement follows National Security Adviser John Bolton’s visit to Moscow to discuss details of the first Trump-Putin summit. The two leaders first met face to face in Hamburg at the G20 Summit in July last year.

The two leaders hit it off so well that a meeting scheduled to last for 30 minutes extended beyond two hours.

This is a developing story. Check back for details.

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.</s>MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin (all times local):

President Donald Trump is repeating his denials of any Russian election interference as details are released on his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The White House and the Kremlin announced Thursday that the two leaders would meet in Helsinki on July 16.

Ahead of the announcement, Trump tweeted, "Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!"

Trump has continually parroted the Kremlin's denial of interference in the 2016 elections. That move has put him out of step with the findings of the U.S. intelligence community and nearly all Democrats and Republicans in Congress who say there is clear evidence of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.

The Kremlin and the White House say the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will take place in Helsinki on July 16.

The synchronized announcement comes a day after Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton held talks with Russian officials in Moscow to lay the groundwork for the summit.

Trump said Wednesday that "getting along with Russia and with China and with everybody is a very good thing." He said they would discuss Syria, Ukraine and "many other subjects."

The Russian leader had two brief meetings with Trump on the sidelines of international summits last year, but plans for a full-fledged summit have been thrown back amid the U.S. investigations into alleged collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia.

Moscow says the top Russian and U.S. diplomats are likely to meet to set the stage for a summit between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is likely to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo within two weeks. Ryabkov said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies Thursday that Moscow already has made a proposal regarding the specifics of the meeting and is waiting for Washington's answer.

Trump told reporters that he'll probably meet with Putin during a July trip to Europe. He mentioned Helsinki, Finland, and Vienna, Austria, as possible venues, adding that he would be receiving an update from his adviser, John Bolton, who visited Moscow Wednesday to lay the groundwork for the summit.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet next month in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, Fox News reported Thursday.

The report, which could not be immediately verified by USA TODAY, came a day after officials in both countries said the leaders will meet in a "third country," perhaps Finland or Austria.

The Trump-Putin summit would be tacked onto Trump's pre-scheduled trip to Europe on July 10-14, officials said, though specific details have yet to be nailed down.

"I can say that we have reached an agreement to hold a summit, we have even agreed on the time and the place of the meeting, and we will announce this obviously with our American colleagues tomorrow," Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday.

While Ushakov would not identify the "third country" in which the meeting will be held, Trump told reporters at the White House that Helsinki and Vienna, Austria, are finalists.

The Kremlin made the announcement Wednesday as National Security Adviser John Bolton visited Moscow to work out the details of a summit designed to discuss the disputes between the two countries.

“Both President Trump and President Putin think they may be able to find constructive solutions," Bolton told reporters. "I’d like to hear someone say that’s a bad idea."

In addition to planning the Trump summit, Putin and Bolton discussed Russian involvement in Ukraine, the Syria civil war and efforts to denuclearize North Korea, all of which are expected to be subjects at the summit, officials said.

The Russian leader also denied allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election that elected Trump, the Kremlin said.

Trump has denied any collusion with Russians during his 2016 campaign, and Bolton echoed that denial. "People have said or implied over time that a meeting between President Trump and President Putin would somehow prove some nexus between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, which is complete nonsense," he said.</s>MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a summit in Helsinki on July 16, the Kremlin and the White House announced Thursday.

A terse synchronized statement said the two presidents will discuss bilateral issues and international relations. The announcement comes a day after President Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton held talks with Russian officials in Moscow to lay the groundwork for the summit.

“I’ve said it from day one, getting along with Russia and with China and with everybody is a very good thing,” President Trump said Wednesday. “It’s good for the world. It’s good for us. It’s good for everybody.”

He said they would discuss Syria, Ukraine and “many other subjects.”

Putin had two brief meetings with President Trump on the sidelines of international summits last year, but plans for a full-fledged summit have been thrown back amid the U.S. investigations into alleged collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia.

Ahead of the announcement, President Trump repeated Russian denials of election interference, tweeting “Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!”

President Trump has continually parroted the Kremlin’s denial of election interference, a move that has put him out of step with the findings of the U.S. intelligence community and nearly all Democrats and Republicans in Congress, who say there’s clear evidence of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is likely to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo within the next two weeks as part of efforts to set the stage for the summit.

Ryabkov said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies Thursday that Moscow already has made a proposal regarding the specifics of the meeting and is waiting for Washington’s answer.
A summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is set for July 16 in Helsinki. The leaders are expected to discuss national security issues as well as Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.