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> 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 (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> 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> 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. </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: 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> 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> HELSINKI - President Donald Trump opened a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday by predicting that their countries will end up having "an extraordinary relationship" but without mentioning Moscow's meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election in his opening remarks.

"Our two countries, frankly, we have not been getting along well," Trump said as he and Putin sat down at the Presidential Palace in Finland's capital. "I really think the world wants to see us get along."

Putin, for his part, said he and Trump have maintained regular contact, including talking by phone and meeting at international events. Speaking through a translator, the Russian leader said "the time has come to have a thorough discussion on various international problems and sensitive issues."

The summit got under way hours after Trump blamed the United States, and not Russian election meddling or its annexation of Crimea, for a low-point in U.S.-Russia relations. The drama was playing out against a backdrop of fraying Western alliances, a new peak in the Russia investigation and fears that Moscow's aggression may go unchallenged.

Monday's meeting, which was being closely watched by rattled world capitals, was condemned in advance by members of Congress from both parties after the U.S. indictment last week of 12 Russian military intelligence officers accused of hacking Democrats in the 2016 election to help Trump's presidential campaign. Undeterred, the American president was set to go face-to-face with Putin, the authoritarian leader for whom he has expressed admiration.

The summit started late because Putin arrived in Helsinki about a half hour behind schedule in another display of the Russian's leader famous lack of punctuality. Trump seemed to return the favor by waiting until Putin had arrived at the palace before leaving his hotel. Putin has been late for past meetings with the pope and British Queen, among many others.

Trump and his aides have repeatedly tried to lower expectations about what the summit will achieve. He told CBS News that he didn't "expect anything" from Putin, while his national security adviser said the U.S. wasn't looking for any "concrete deliverables." Trump told reporters during a breakfast Monday with Finland's president that he thought the summit would go "fine."

Trump said he and Putin would discuss a range of issues, from trade to the military, along with missiles and China. They shared a brief handshake before reporters were ushered out so they could begin their one-on-one talks in the palace's opulent Gothic Hall.

They'll continue their discussions with an expanded group of aides and over lunch in the Hall of Mirrors, once the emperor's throne room. The leaders will conclude by taking questions at a joint news conference.

Observers have raised concerns about the fact that the leaders will be alone during their first meeting, but for a pair of interpreters, meaning there will be no corroborating witnesses to accurately represent what was said during the conversation.

The meeting comes as questions swirl about whether Trump will sharply and publicly rebuke his Russian counterpart for the election meddling that prompted a special counsel probe that Trump has repeatedly labeled a "witch hunt."

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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.