President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin began their highly anticipated meeting on Monday after Putin arrived late in Helsinki, Finland.
The Helsinki summit marks the first formal meeting between the two leaders. It comes amid heightened tensions at home and abroad and after Trump's stated goal of pursuing better relations with Russia.
Trump and Putin will engage in a one-on-one meeting at the Presidential Palace with only interpreters present. They will be joined later by aides for an expanded meeting that is scheduled to last two hours.
The two men will conclude the summit with a joint press conference before Trump departs for a return trip to Washington, D.C.
The meeting got off to a late start after Putin's plane landed in Helsinki just 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. The Russian leader has been known to keep his counterparts off balance by showing up late to meetings.
Hours before the sit-down, Trump blamed the U.S. for the poor relationship with Russia, a view that is shared by Putin.
“Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!” Trump tweeted, referring to the special counsel’s probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
U.S. officials blame Russia’s election meddling, its involvement in Syria and Ukraine, and its alleged use of a nerve agent against people in the U.K. for worsening the relationship. Even Trump predicted that he might not make much progress at the summit.
"I go in with very low expectations. I think that getting along with Russia is a good thing. But it's possible we won't," Trump told CBS News ahead of the meeting.
The summit arrives at a fraught time for Trump, who arrives in Helsinki fresh off controversial stops in Belgium and the United Kingdom, and just days after the Department of Justice levied charges against 12 Russian intelligence officials for allegedly hacking into Democratic servers during the 2016 election.
Trump has pledged multiple times in recent weeks to press Putin on election interference. He has in the past expressed reluctance to accept the U.S. intelligence community’s finding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
He has not condemned Putin over the latest round of indictments, instead blaming the Obama administration and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for allowing the hack to take place.
Asked by CBS's Jeff Glor if he would ask Putin to extradite the Russians charged on Friday, Trump said he "hadn't thought of that."
"But I certainly, I'll be asking about it. But again, this was during the Obama administration. They were doing whatever it was during the Obama administration," he said.
Other topics of discussion are expected to include the conflict in Syria, where the U.S. and Russia back different sides, as well as arms control. Trump has said a priority of his is to limit nuclear proliferation.
The two leaders are also likely to talk about Russia's annexation of Crimea, which was widely condemned when it occurred in 2014. However, Trump has in recent weeks repeatedly blamed the issue on the Obama administration, and left the door open to recognizing Russia's claim on Crimea.
“Long before I got here President Obama allowed that to happen, that was under his watch, not my watch,” Trump told reporters during last week's NATO summit. “What will happen with Crimea from this point on? That, I can’t tell you.”
The president roiled allies throughout the NATO summit in Brussels. He has long complained that the U.S. provides a disproportionate amount of funding for the organization, and has called on allies to increase their contributions.
While member nations agreed in 2014 to allocate 2 percent of their respective gross domestic products (GDP) toward defense spending by 2024, Trump has been unsatisfied by the deal.
At last week's summit, he first suggested alliance members raise their goal from 2 percent to 4 percent. He later escalated his rhetoric by demanding countries reach the goal "immediately" rather than inching toward it until 2024.
He also took direct aim at Germany, asserting that the country was "captive to Russia" because of a gas pipeline deal the two nations struck.
Trump's testy attitude toward NATO allies raised eyebrows ahead of his summit with Putin, as the alliance seeks to defend Baltic states bordering Russia.
He further stoked tensions with allies upon his arrival in the United Kingdom. Trump gave an interview to The Sun, where he ripped British Prime Minister Theresa May over her approach to "Brexit," and praised her political rival, Boris Johnson, who resigned from her administration days earlier.
The two leaders projected a unified front during a joint press conference, and May spoke of the need to engage Russia "from a position of strength." The prime minister has taken a rigid stance against Putin, particularly after officials blamed the Kremlin for poisoning an ex-Russian spy and his daughter.
While the Trump administration has maintained tough policies toward Russia — including sanctions and the expulsion of dozens of diplomats in response to the British poisoning — the president himself has often undercut those practices with friendly rhetoric, raising concerns among some lawmakers that he may concede too much in his meeting with Putin.
"We have been extremely tough on Russia, including when the PM called after a horrible thing happened here," Trump said during a press conference with May, referring to the expulsion of diplomats.
"We have been very strong on Russia," he added. "If I had a relationship with Russia or with China it would be good. If we get along with countries, that’s a good thing."
