Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed sanctions related to Russian meddling in the 2016 US election when they met last week, the White House said on Monday, contradicting an earlier statement by the US president.
In the first White House press briefing in 10 days, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that during the two presidents’ meeting on Friday, “there were sanctions specific to election meddling that I believe were discussed, but not beyond that”.
On Sunday, Trump had denied that the subject had been raised.
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)Sanctions were not discussed at my meeting with President Putin. Nothing will be done until the Ukrainian & Syrian problems are solved!
July 9, 2017
Russian efforts to sway the election in Trump’s favour loomed large over Friday’s meeting on the fringes of the G20 summit in Hamburg. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Putin himself ordered a campaign to undermine the candidacy of Hillary Clinton, and according to US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, the accusation was the first subject Trump raised.
The meeting, which lasted two hours and 16 minutes – far longer than the half an hour originally scheduled – was one of the consequential moments of Trump’s second foreign trip as president.
It came as the US Senate has passed new sanctions against Russia by an overwhelming majority. The bill currently faces a vote in the House with substantial White House pressure to weaken it and give the administration more freedom to impose waivers on proposed sanctions.
On Sunday, Putin said he thought Trump “was satisfied” with his denial of involvement. “[Trump] asked a lot of questions on this subject,” Putin said. “I, inasmuch as I was able, answered these questions. It seems to me that he took these [answers] on board and agreed with them, but in actual fact, it’s best to ask him how he views this.”
In an off-camera briefing on Monday, Sanders could not answer if Trump had accepted Putin’s assertion.
Trump “heard Putin’s denial and he knew that, at the end of the day, the important part was them being able to have that conversation and him to directly ask him. He heard his answer and he moved forward with places he thought that he could work together,” Sanders said.
The White House spokeswoman added of the meeting that she was “not sure” if Trump had mentioned human rights in the meeting with the Russian president.