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> 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> 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> 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> 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 </s> HELSINKI (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin (all times local):

European Council President Donald Tusk has urged President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and China to work with Europe to avoid trade wars and prevent conflict and chaos.

Tusk was speaking Monday in Beijing at the opening of a summit between China and the European Union. He noted that Trump and Putin's summit in Helsinki would take place on the same day in Helsinki.

Of the summit, Tusk said: "We are all aware of the fact that the architecture of the world is changing before our very eyes and it is our common responsibility to make it a change for the better."

Tusk said Europe, China, the U.S. and Russia had a "common duty" not to destroy the global order but to improve it by reforming international trade rules.

President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin are ready to go one-on-one in Finland.

Their summit Monday in Helsinki will play out against a backdrop of fraying Western alliances, the investigation into Russian election meddling and fears that Moscow's aggression may go unpunished.

The meeting was condemned in advance by an assortment of members of Congress from both parties after the U.S. indictment last week of 12 Russians accused of hacking Democrats in the 2016 election to help Trump.

Undeterred, the American president is set to go face-to-face with Putin, the authoritarian leader for whom he has expressed admiration.

Questions are swirling about whether Trump will sharply rebuke his Russian counterpart for the election meddling that prompted a special counsel probe.
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.