New Delhi:
Amid growing tensions between the superpowers, US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin will hold their first one-on-one meeting in Finland on Monday.
Trump and Putin will hold talks in Helsinki against a backdrop of fraying Western alliances, the investigation into Russian election meddling. Both leaders will hold a joint press conference after their summit.
The meeting came a week after US indictment of 12 Russians accused of hacking Democrats in 2016 election to help Trump win. An assortment of members of Congress from both parties – the Democrats and the Republicans - condemned the summit.
Undeterred from the criticism, the US president went ahead with the meeting. According to US media reports, Trump may seek custody of the Russians allegedly involved in the 2016 election meddling.
However, questions were swirling about whether Trump will sharply rebuke his Russian counterpart for the election meddling that prompted a special counsel probe.
Besides the one-on-one summit, the two leaders will also meet Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
(With inputs from agencies)
