Trump arrives in Helsinki for summit with Putin

ANI  |  Helsinki [Finland] 

on late Sunday arrived in Helsinki, for the much-awaited summit with his Russian counterpart

The two leaders are scheduled to meet later on Monday.

Trump, who is on a seven-day, three-nation European trip flew in from Scotland, where he and his wife, Melania, spent the weekend at his golf resort.

has a long legacy of hosting U.S.-Russian summits because of its perceived neutrality and geographic location, as per several

Earlier on Friday, Trump said that he will "absolutely" ask his Russian counterpart about Moscow's alleged involvement in the US

"I will absolutely bring that up," Trump said of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

"I don't think you'll have any 'Gee, I did it, I did it. You got me!' There won't be Perry Mason here, I don't think. But I will absolutely, firmly ask the question," he added.

Speaking at a press conference alongside British Theresa May, Trump seemed reluctant on a question of whether the US and could realistically build a stronger alliance given Moscow's intervention in

had earlier denied meddling in the US election campaign and Trump called Robert Mueller's probe on the Russian interference a "political witch hunt".

On a related note, US will accompany the US President and will meet Russian and hold discussions on a range of issues on the US-Russian agenda.

The Trump-summit is likely to take place for several hours and the two presidents will address a joint news conference after it, according to the Russian

This summit will be the third time that both the leaders would meet face-to-face.

and Trump first met during the summit in Germany's in July last year and again met for the second time in summit in in November last year.

Earlier in March this year, the two leaders held a telephonic conversation, where President Trump had invited his Russian counterpart to visit Washington D.C.

It is to be noted that relations between US and are greatly strained due to the crisis in Ukraine, Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2015, differences regarding Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war, and the alleged meddling of 2016 US

has repeatedly condemned Moscow's actions in and imposed sanctions over the same since 2014.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, July 16 2018. 01:07 IST