"Putin and Trump satisfied with meeting"

The initiative to organize a personal meeting between the Russian and US Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, came from both sides and both leaders were satisfied with a meeting, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

"You can take it from me, Putin is satisfied. And, frankly speaking, I don’t know President Trump but I think he was also satisfied with the meeting," Peskov told the Rossiya 1 TV channel.

Peskov said the two leaders communicated not only within the framework of the bilateral meeting, but also exchanged some phrases before it and had the opportunity to continue their communication during lunch, a protocol event that was later the same day. "Therefore, the process went on," the spokesman added.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, it is "absurd" to try to guess who has won these talks. "As a matter of fact, after this meeting we can say it confidently that all have won," Peskov said. He clarified that the winners are those who "have a bit of common sense" and who are able to understand that this meeting can initiate different processes. According to the spokesman, this will determine how effectively international and regional problems will be jointly solved.

The arguments of the New York Times newspaper about the details of the meeting between the presidents are nonsense, it indicates that the tale-tellers are sitting there, the spokesman said. "I repeat once again, there were only two people, and where did the New York Times knew how many minutes what was discussed, and who raised the voice, and whether anyone raised it at all — that is, all this simply eloquently testifies that there are great tale-tellers sitting there, who do all they can to prevent the Russophobic wave from subsiding," Peskov believes.

 Earlier, the New York Times reported, citing a White House official who was briefed by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, that the leaders of the countries discussed the so-called "interference" of Russia in the US elections for 40 minutes during a bilateral meeting in Hamburg.

Peskov also described accusations of incompetence against Trump as "schizophrenic stuff" similar to a wave of anti-Russian hysteria in the US political circles. "Judging by the president’s impression, Trump is a very efficient person," Peskov said. "He has full expert knowledge, is very persistent and uses facts skillfully," the Kremlin spokesman added.

Peskov said that while attending the Groups of Twenty summit, Russian President has an opportunity to speak personally not only with Donald Trump but also with his wife, Melania Trump. "The president remained satisfied," Peskov noted. "They spoke even on the G20 agenda," he said, adding that the topics for discussion at the working sessions included such problems as gender equality and the role of women in the economy."I think there was certain sympathy," the Kremlin spokesman added.

The director of the Roosevelt Fund of Study of the US at Moscow State University, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Yuri Rogulev, speaking with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted in the first place that the very fact of the talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is positive. "It was a start of a dialogue. After the previous administration, we had not had any talks for half a year, all contacts were broken. So, we hope that this meeting will continue the dialogue. In this sense, of course, the very fact of the talks is moderately positive," the expert said.

At the same time he drew attention to the fact that we should not talk about specific achievements yet. "There is an agreement on Syria, a special envoy for Ukraine was appointed. But it's still still more about the continuation of the process than about specific solutions," Yury Rogulev explained.

According to him, the almost half-year absence of relations between Russia and the United States is abnormal. "In the modern age, it is too dangerous for representatives of the two countries to have no contacts at all. So we will wait for the talks, contacts of the working groups. This is important," the director of the Roosevelt Fund of Study of the US at Moscow State University concluded.

The director of the Center for Political Information, Alexei Mukhin, in turn, noted that it is premature to draw conclusions about the future prospects of Russian-US relations following the results of the last meeting. "The Presidents met and discussed some of the problems they are facing today. But their future relations should not be judged this talks," he said. "Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama had a wonderful first meeting, but everyone knows the results," the expert recalled. "Therefore, it is better to adopt a wait and see attitude," the political scientist summed up.

According to the President of the National Strategy Institute, Mikhail Remizov, the meeting of the Russian and US leaders in Hamburg will not have any breakthrough significance. "There is very little known about the results of the talks. Trump and Putin have very limited freedom of maneuver as regards steps towards each other, especially the US president, who is tied hand and foot because of the domestic political situation. At the same time, both Moscow and Washington are probably interested in how to minimize damage to each other in the near future. Perhaps, this is the best the presidents of both countries can do in the current situation," the political scientist believes.

He also stressed that in principle the held negotiations changed nothing in the contacts between Moscow and Washington. "Support for the creation of the demilitarized zone in Syria has been discussed before, but it did not prevent  the United States and its allies from carrying out attacks on the Syrian armed forces. It may continue in the future as well. In addition, after the meeting, there were statements about closer cooperation in the settlement of the situation in Donbass. But it is also quite difficult to understand what it means. Perhaps the development of events in Syria and Ukraine will show whether this meeting had any results," Mikhail Remizov concluded.