Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a session of the International Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

ARKHANGELSK, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he was ready to meet U.S. president Donald Trump at an Arctic summit in Finland.

Russian president made this remark responding to his Finnish counterpart, who said he would be happy to receive Russian and U.S. presidents in Finland.</s>The Russian government used "thousands" of internet trolls and bots to spread fake news, in addition to hacking into political campaigns leading up to the 2016 U.S. election, according to one lawmaker.

Disinformation spread on social media was designed to raise doubts about the U.S. election and the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, said Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat.

"This Russian propaganda on steroids was designed to poison the national conversation in America," Warner said Thursday during a Senate hearing on Russian election hacking. The Russian government used "thousands of paid internet trolls" and bots to spread disinformation on social media.

The groups spreading disinformation appeared to target specific swing states in the weeks leading up to the U.S. election, Warner said. He questioned whether Russian operatives would have that level of U.S. elections expertise without outside help.

Most members of the Senate Intelligence Committee expressed little doubt that Russia tried to influence the U.S. presidential election through hacking and the spread of disinformation. Senators from both parties promised to investigate alleged ties between President Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian disinformation and hacking efforts.

Warner addressed repeated suggestions by Trump that Russian interference in the election is "fake news."

"This is not innuendo or false allegations," Warner said. "This is not fake news, this is actually what happened to us."

Clinton wasn't the only presidential candidate targeted by Russia, said Clint Watts, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute Program on National Security. Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, appears to have been targeted during the Republican primary because of his tough stance on Russia, Watts said.

Rubio, a member of the Intelligence Committee, confirmed during the hearing that his campaign staffers were targeted last July, after he dropped out of the presidential race, by a hacker using a Russia IP address. Former members of his presidential campaign staff were again targeted on Tuesday by an attempted hack coming from Russia, he said.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin again denied the allegations that Russia targeted the U.S. election. The allegations are "fictional, illusory and provocations, lies," Putin said during the annual Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia.

Witnesses told senators that Russia has been waging disinformation campaigns in the West for decades.

The purpose of the recent Russian disinformation campaign is to stir up unrest in Western democracies, to shake their citizens' faith in their governments and traditional media, and ultimately, to break up NATO and the European Union, said Eugene Rumer, director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The Russian disinformation and hacking campaigns were "not a crisis, not something that will pass soon," Rumer added. "It is the new normal. We will see Russia relying on this toolkit in the months and years to come."

While Russian disinformation campaigns are nothing new, Russian hackers seemed to change their tactics in mid-2014, said Kevin Mandia, CEO of cybersecurity company FireEye. Instead of covering their tracks, they continued their hacking campaigns even after being identified by security researchers, he said.

The Russian hackers also began "operating at a scale and scope where you could easily detect them," Mandia added.

During the U.S. election, Russia operatives "left behind more clues and more traces than ever before," added Thomas Rid, a professor in the Department of War Studies at King's College London.

The Russian disinformation campaign goes even beyond elections, Watts said. An April 2014 petition on the U.S. White House website demanded the country give Alaska back to Russia.

The petition generated 39,000 signatures in a short time, with many signatures appearing to come from bots used to push Russian propaganda months earlier, Watts said.

Soviet-era disinformation tactics "have been reborn and updated for the modern Russian regime in the digital age," he said.</s>At his Friday afternoon White House briefing, President Donald Trump’s Press Secretary Sean Spicer made the jaw-dropping assertion that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to blame for the current imbroglio with Russia and its president Vladimir Putin.

In the process of deflecting a question about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, Spicer said, “As we’ve said before, when you talk about Russia in particular, everyone who has been briefed on this subject, from Republican to Democrat to CIA, former Obama administration’s Clapper, Brennan, you name it, all of those people come back with the same conclusion and I think that’s important that there’s been no evidence of the president’s campaign and Russian officials.”

Presumably, Spicer meant to say the words “collusion between” but he did not.

He continued, “It was Hillary Clinton who was the architect of the last administration’s failed ‘Reset’ policy. She told Russian state TV it was designed to strengthen Russia. That was their goal, to strengthen Russia. She used her office to make concession after concession, selling off one-fifth of our country’s uranium, paid speeches, paid deals, getting personal calls from Vladimir Putin. If you really want to talk about a Russian connection and the substance, that’s where we should be looking, that, not there.”

The claim that Clinton “gave up” 20 percent of the country’s uranium is a Trump canard that PolitiFact rates as “Mostly false.”



The reference is to Russia’s nuclear power agency buying a controlling interest in a Toronto-based company. That company has mines, mills and tracts of land in Wyoming, Utah and other U.S. states equal to about 20 percent of U.S. uranium production capacity (not produced uranium). Clinton was secretary of state at the time, but she didn’t have the power to approve or reject the deal. The State Department was only one of nine federal agencies that signed off on the deal, and only Obama had the power to veto it. For a statement that contains only an element of truth, our rating is Mostly False.</s>Donald Trump is reportedly considering resigning the presidency after reports that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has offered to testify about allegations that the Trump campaign worked with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Flynn offered to be interviewed by the FBI and Congress in exchange for immunity, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. In a statement released later, Flynn’s attorney, Robert Kelner, confirmed that Flynn had reached out to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, which are operating parallel investigations into the alleged Russian interference.

“General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it,” Kelner wrote in the statement.

The offer appears to carry even more weight given Flynn’s previous statements regarding Hillary Clinton’s investigation.

“When you are given immunity that means you’ve probably committed a crime,” Flynn said in September in an interview with NBC.

There have been reports circulating for months that Trump was working closely with Russian intelligence officials, and the allegations were laid out in a dossier compiled by a former British MI6 agent. The report claimed that Russian officials had worked for many years to cultivate Donald Trump as a candidate, compiling embarrassing information to use as blackmail while also offering lucrative financial deals for Trump. The dossier alleged that Trump struck a deal to lessen sanctions on Russia in exchange for help taking down Hillary Clinton.

That help allegedly came in the form of emails from Clinton’s campaign leader and the Democratic National Committee, stolen by Russian hackers and published through WikiLeaks.

Flynn had already been taking down for his connections to Russia. The national security adviser served just three weeks before resigning for reportedly lying to Vice President Mike Pence about contact with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn has other connections to Russia, NBC News noted.

Now a number of sources have claimed that Donald Trump is considering resignation amid the growing Russia scandal and potentially damaging testimony from Flynn. Within an hour of the news of Flynn’s testimony offer breaking, a former U.S. military officials and “hacktivist” known as The Jester cited sources claiming that Trump was considering all options, including resignation.

While he has not put his real name to his work, The Jester reportedly has close contacts throughout the intelligence community and has a strong track record with his predictions.

And others have also claimed that Donald Trump is considering resigning. Claude Taylor, a former White House staffer under Bill Clinton, also reported that Trump may be planning to resign with a deal to receive a pardon from Mike Pence.

While the rumors of Donald Trump’s plans to resign are relegated to Twitter for now, the reports seem to offer new perspective to a strange and somewhat telling statement made this week by Senator Diane Feinstein, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Speaking to a group of activists asking why she and Democrats were not doing more to press on the Russia investigation and force Trump out of office, Feinstein hinted that she may have inside information that Trump may be planning to resign.

“We have a lot of people looking into this,” she said. “I think he’s going to get himself out.”

While the rumors that Donald Trump may resign are circulating online, the White House has continued to deny any collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.</s>Donald Trump is reportedly considering resigning the presidency after reports that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has offered to testify about allegations that the Trump campaign worked with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Flynn offered to be interviewed by the FBI and Congress in exchange for immunity, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. In a statement released later, Flynn’s attorney, Robert Kelner, confirmed that Flynn had reached out to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, which are operating parallel investigations into the alleged Russian interference.

“General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it,” Kelner wrote in the statement.

The offer appears to carry even more weight given Flynn’s previous statements regarding Hillary Clinton’s investigation.

“When you are given immunity that means you’ve probably committed a crime,” Flynn said in September in an interview with NBC.

There have been reports circulating for months that Trump was working closely with Russian intelligence officials, and the allegations were laid out in a dossier compiled by a former British MI6 agent. The report claimed that Russian officials had worked for many years to cultivate Donald Trump as a candidate, compiling embarrassing information to use as blackmail while also offering lucrative financial deals for Trump. The dossier alleged that Trump struck a deal to lessen sanctions on Russia in exchange for help taking down Hillary Clinton.

That help allegedly came in the form of emails from Clinton’s campaign leader and the Democratic National Committee, stolen by Russian hackers and published through WikiLeaks.

Flynn had already been taking down for his connections to Russia. The national security adviser served just three weeks before resigning for reportedly lying to Vice President Mike Pence about contact with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn has other connections to Russia, NBC News noted.

Now a number of sources have claimed that Donald Trump is considering resignation amid the growing Russia scandal and potentially damaging testimony from Flynn. Within an hour of the news of Flynn’s testimony offer breaking, a former U.S. military officials and “hacktivist” known as The Jester cited sources claiming that Trump was considering all options, including resignation.

While he has not put his real name to his work, The Jester reportedly has close contacts throughout the intelligence community and has a strong track record with his predictions.

And others have also claimed that Donald Trump is considering resigning. Claude Taylor, a former White House staffer under Bill Clinton, also reported that Trump may be planning to resign with a deal to receive a pardon from Mike Pence.

While the rumors of Donald Trump’s plans to resign are relegated to Twitter for now, the reports seem to offer a new perspective to a strange and somewhat telling statement made this week by Senator Diane Feinstein, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Speaking to a group of activists asking why she and Democrats were not doing more to press on the Russia investigation and force Trump out of office, Feinstein hinted that she may have inside information that Trump may be planning to resign.

“We have a lot of people looking into this,” she said.

While the rumors that Donald Trump may resign are circulating online, the White House has continued to deny any collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.</s>President Donald Trump’s first 60 days in the White House have been the least-approved of any new president in American history, the latest Gallup tracking poll released Saturday revealed. The new president may well be on his way to continuing record-low ratings throughout his first 100 days in Washington, D.C., as scores of people across the globe were betting on him to be impeached or removed from office in his first term.

Incoming approval ratings collected by Gallup since former President Dwight Eisenhower showed new presidents typically enjoy a honeymoon phase, in which the majority of the public largely approved of their initial days in office.

Read: Can Donald Trump Be Removed For Russia Ties? Impeachment Resolution Will Be Put Up To A Vote Over Scandal

Trump's first months as commander-in-chief have been mired in controversy, however, surrounding several failed campaign promises, his administration’s ties to the Russian Kremlin and politically divisive items on his to-do list, like building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border projected to cost $20 billion.

Just 40 percent of those polled in Gallup’s latest approval ratings supported Trump’s first 60 days in office, compared to 54 percent of total disapproval. And it may only be downhill from there: almost every president since former President Harry Truman faced large dips in approval throughout their first year in office.

Several presidents, including former President Jimmy Carter, former President George W. Bush, former President Gerald R. Ford and former President Lyndon B. Johnson, enjoyed slight upticks in their approval near the end of their terms. Still, the majority faced lower approval at the end of their presidency than when they were first sworn into office.

It remained unclear whether Trump’s approval would continue to dip. The Republican party’s failure to repeal and replace his predecessor’s landmark healthcare legislation, the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, may signal yet another red flag for Trump's popularity, as reforming the nation’s health care system became one of his successful campaign’s trademark promises.

But even if Trump remains an unpopular president, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll be removed from office. A president can only be impeached if the Senate finds them guilty of "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors," the Constitution states. Several Democrats, including California Rep. Maxine Waters, has already warned Trump could soon face impeachment trials over his campaign and administration's purported collusion with Russian officials.

A petition was started the day of the inauguration to have Trump resign.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.
• Most People Are Betting On Trump's Impeachment
• Trump's Wall Could Be A 'Technological Wonder'</s>MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin says he is ready to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump if Finland hosts an Arctic summit.

Putin and Finland's president, Sauli Niinisto, both expressed openness for such a meeting when they spoke at an Arctic forum in the Russian city of Arkhangelsk Thursday.

Asked by a moderator if Finland was willing to host a summit of Arctic nations' leaders that for the first time brings together Putin and Trump, Niinisto said that it would be honored to do so.

Putin answered in kind, saying he would be glad to take part in it if such a meeting is held.

Finland is set to take the rotating leadership in the Arctic Council in May.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he was ready to meet U.S. president Donald Trump at an Arctic summit in Finland.

Russian President made this remark responding to his Finnish counterpart, who said he would be happy to receive Russian and U.S. presidents in Finland.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would be ready to meet with US President Donald Trump at the upcoming summit of Arctic countries in Finland, if the talks are properly prepared.

“I believe Finland suits this purpose well, and Helsinki is a very convenient platform to organize an event like this,” Putin said, when asked if he thought a meeting between him and Trump was possible in Finland.

However, he added that the event should be well prepared “by both sides.”

“If this happens, we – and I personally – would be glad to take part in such an event. If not, the meeting [with Trump] could take place in the framework of the G20 summit [set to take place in July],” Putin concluded.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said earlier that his country would “certainly be very happy to have the opportunity to hold such a summit.”

The summit is set to take place at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki on September 18-20, 2017, according to the event’s official website.

Russia considers the US a great power, and would like to get its relationship with Washington back on track, and claims alleging anything else are lies and fiction, Putin said.

The Russian president added that, while relations between Moscow and Washington are currently “at zero level,” he counts on the situation improving someday – and the sooner the better.

The anti-Russian card is being played by various political forces in the US to reinforce the positions of certain politicians, Putin added, slamming as nonsense claims that the Russian ambassador to the US had held “spy” meetings with officials connected to Trump.

Putin also slammed the way the Russian ambassador is being treated in the US. The diplomat’s contacts have been limited and any meetings he has are regarded as a spy activities, according to the Russian president.

Putin warned that the attempt of some US political forces to bring US-Russian relations to the point of “Caribbean crisis” [October missile crisis] is a huge mistake.

The first high-profile Russia-US meeting was held in mid-February, when US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Bonn, although journalists were asked to leave when the US’ top diplomat began speaking.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday denounced the scandals over Donald Trump’s ties to Moscow, adding that he would be happy to meet with his US counterpart this year. Speaking at an international forum on the Arctic organised by Russia in the northern city of Arkhangelsk, Putin once again denied any Kremlin involvement in the US election last year, slamming the recent accusations as “absurd” and “irresponsible.”

“We are just waiting for when the situation improves,” Putin said in televised comments. “When it’s over, I hope we decide on holding a meeting” with Trump.

Putin said he would be keen for their first face-to-face talks to happen at the G20 summit in July or earlier, for example at a summit Finland may host after becoming chair of the Arctic Council intergovernmental forum in May.

“Such events should be prepared by both sides. If it happens, then we would be glad, I would be glad, to take part in this event,” Putin said at the forum, which Finnish President Sauli Niinisto is also attending.

“If not, then such a meeting could take place within the framework of the usual meetings, at the G20,” Putin added.

The G20 summit of world powers is set to convene in the northern German city of Hamburg in early July and both US and Russian leaders are expected to attend.

“We see the US as a great country with which we want to have a good partnership. Everything else is lies, inventions and provocations” used by “some political forces in the US… to strengthen their position,” said Putin.

He slammed the scrutiny of the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, whose meetings with Trump’s associates figure in several congressional investigations into possible election meddling by Moscow.

“I can see the US ambassador (to Russia John Tefft) is sitting here… He is communicating with everyone,” Putin told the audience at the forum.

“Meanwhile the contacts of our envoy are being limited, his every meeting is met with hostility as some kind of spy stunt,” Putin said, insisting that Kislyak is simply doing his job.

US intelligence has accused Moscow of waging a broad-ranging campaign to help Trump win the election. This has led to investigations in the Senate and House of Representatives as well as an FBI probe into the Trump campaign’s ties with Russia.

Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner is to face a congressional panel over his contacts with Russian state bank executives last year that Moscow has dismissed as “normal business” for the banks.

Putin on Thursday said the Russia allegations are used as a way to prevent Trump from implementing his policies and accused the forces behind them as irresponsible.

“We can see what is happening, the president is being prevented from carrying out his policies,” Putin said of Trump.

“It’s not in the interests of the majority of American people to take US-Russian relations to the point of absurdity,” Putin said.

“What do we want? To completely end all relations? They are already almost at zero.” “What do we want? To completely break off diplomatic relations? To take the situation to the 1960s, to the Cuban missile crisis?” Putin questioned.

“And then what? People who are this irresponsible, where are they leading us all?” Putin asked, without accusing anyone in particular.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now
Russian president Vladimir Putin attends the International Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia. He says there that he is ready to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Helsinki, Finland.