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In a meeting that ran longer than either side had planned, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin discussed alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election on Friday but agreed to focus on better ties rather than litigating the past.

Trump, a Republican who called it an "honor" to meet with the Russian president, drew swift criticism from Democrats at home, who accused him of dismissing U.S. intelligence and giving Putin's denial, reiterated on Friday, of Russian interference too much weight.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters at a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 major economies in Hamburg that Trump had "positive chemistry" with Putin during the meeting, which lasted some two hours and 15 minutes.

He opened their discussion by pressing Putin about "the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election" and had a robust exchange, Tillerson said.

The Russian president has denied any meddling in the U.S. democratic process last year and Moscow has asked for proof that it took place. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin's assertions that the allegations, backed by U.S. intelligence agencies, were false.

Tillerson said they both sought to move on.

"The presidents rightly focused on how do we move forward from what may be simply an intractable disagreement at this point," Tillerson said.

That explanation did not sit well with Democrats.

“Working to compromise the integrity of our election process cannot and should not be an area where ‘agree to disagree’ is an acceptable conclusion," said U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in a statement.

On Thursday in Poland Trump gave lukewarm support to the view that Moscow interfered in the 2016 U.S. political process.

Trump promised a rapprochement with Moscow during his campaign but has been unable to deliver because his administration has been dogged by investigations into the allegations of Russian interference in the election and ties with his campaign.

Trump says his team did not collude with Russia.

Tillerson said they agreed to work on commitments of "non-interference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process as well as those in other countries."

Andrew Weiss, a former National Security Council official responsible for Russia, said Trump had sent the wrong signal with upbeat body language and by not pushing Putin harder on alleged Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election.

"The atmospherics were chummy," said Weiss, who is now at Washington's Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank in Washington. "The clear push from Trump to normalize U.S.-Russian relations was on display in the meeting."

"GOING VERY WELL"

The two leaders spent a lot of time discussing Syria, and after their meeting an agreement between the United States, Russia and Jordan on a ceasefire in southwestern Syria was announced.

The face-to-face encounter was one of the most eagerly anticipated meetings between two leaders in years.

Trump and Putin spoke through translators with their respective foreign ministers present for six minutes before reporters were allowed into the room for their statements. Afterwards the reporters were ushered out and the meeting continued.

"President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," Trump told reporters, sitting alongside the Russian leader.

"We've had some very, very good talks. ... We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everybody concerned. And it's an honor to be with you."

Putin, through a translator, said: "We spoke over the phone with you several times," adding: "A phone conversation is never enough."

"I am delighted to be able to meet you personally, Mr. President," he said, noting that he hoped the meeting would yield results.

Both men sat with legs splayed. Trump listened intently as Putin spoke.

The encounter went longer than expected, and first lady Melania Trump came in at one point to urge them to conclude, Tillerson said. The two men later joined other G20 leaders at a concert. Mrs. Trump sat next to Putin at dinner.

Before the get-together, some feared the U.S. president, a political novice whose team is still developing its Russia policy, would be less prepared for the talks than Putin, a former KGB agent who has dealt with previous U.S. presidents and scores of other world leaders.

Amid criticism of Russia's actions in Ukraine and Syria and the investigations into its role in the U.S. campaign, Trump has come under growing pressure to take a hard line against the Kremlin.

On Thursday, Trump delivered some of his sharpest remarks about Moscow since becoming president, urging Russia to stop its "destabilizing activities" and end its support for Syria and Iran.

But Trump stopped short on Thursday of any personal criticism of Putin and declined to say definitively whether he believed U.S. intelligence officials' assertion that Russia had interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.

"I think it was Russia but I think it was probably other people and/or countries, and I see nothing wrong with that statement. Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure,” Trump said on a visit to Poland.

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“Working to compromise the integrity of our election process cannot and should not be an area where ‘agree to disagree’ is an acceptable conclusion," said U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in a statement.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Nikki Haley - US ambassador to the UN - said 'everyone knows' Russia hacked the election.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
definitively, seriously, and at length making that point

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Tillerson said they agreed to work on commitments of "non-interference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process as well as those in other countries."

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Originally posted by G:

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Originally posted by THGRRI:
Aussie news vid

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This was particularly observant. "There's a tendency amongst hopeful people to confuse the scripted words with the thoughts of the man himself."
I also appreciated the images of him looking like a lost teenager amongst the grown-ups, trying to look engaged and like he gives a sh*t. Sometimes I get the feeling he knows the jig is up. That he knows he's done too much and just a matter of time. It also means he can go back to his business world where he IS king and can look back on all of this as all gravy, "I was f*cking president!" It's not like people aren't going to be $curious about him for the rest of his life.

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More and more it is becoming obvious Trump is doing what he is doing because he knows Putin can ruin him financially. He would rather take on the whole world than fuck with Putin. Because of his ignorance on how this country works he is boxed in now. Because he is a coward he is boxed in.

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Israel Rejects Cease-fire Deal Between U.S. And Russia In South Syria

One month after the WSJ reported that Israel had been secretly funding the Syrian rebel opposition to Assad's regime for years in hopes of keeping the Syrian political situation unstable and preventing the Syrian - and Iranian - regime's military from becoming a substantial threat, overnight Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters after his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday that Israel opposes the cease-fire agreement in southern Syria that the United States and Russia reached "because it perpetuates the Iranian presence in the country."

Quoted by Haaretz, a senior Israeli official said Israel "is aware of Iranian intentions to substantially expand its presence in Syria", and added that Iran is not only interested in sending advisers to Syria but also in dispatching extensive military forces including the establishment of an airbase for Iranian aircraft and a naval base. "This already changes the picture in the region from what it has been up to now," the official said.

Which considering that most if not all of Syria's victories in the ongoing parallel proxy wars with both ISIS and the various "moderate" and not so "moderate" rebel groups were courtesy of Iran and specifically the IRGC, is to be expected. Still, by openly voicing his opposition to one of the most significant moves the United States and Russia have made in Syria in recent months, Netanyahu made public a major disagreement between Israel and the two great powers that had until now been kept under wraps and expressed only through quiet diplomatic channels. Netanyahu said he had discussed the cease-fire deal with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson by phone Sunday night.

As a reminder, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agreed on the cease-fire on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg last week. In a tweet published shortly after the truce came into effect last week, Trump tweeted: "We negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria which will save lives. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!"

One week later, however, the truce faces the daunting hurdle of Trump's biggest ally in the region openly opposing what may be the US president's biggest diplomatic achievement to date.

In addition to the ceasefire, the U.S.-Russian deal included establishing de-escalation zones, otherwise known as safe zones, along Syria’s borders with both Jordan and Israel.

According to Haaretz, over the past month, Israel had held talks on this agreement with senior American officials, including Brett McGurk, America’s special envoy for the battle against ISIS, and Michael Ratney, the special envoy for Syria, both of whom visited Israel several times. During these talks, Israel presented a list of demands and voiced several reservations about the emerging agreement. Among others, Israel said that the de-escalation zones must keep Iran, Hezbollah and other Shi’ite militias away from the Israeli and Jordanian borders and must not enable Iran to consolidate its presence in Syria. Israel also told the Americans it objected to having Russian troops policing the cease-fire in the safe zones near its border.

Curiously, Haaretz notes that Israel was a vocal member of the negotiations that took place over the Syrian ceasefire, and in the days before the United States and Russia announced the cease-fire deal for southern Syria, Netanyahu spoke by telephone with both Tillerson and Russian President Vladimir Putin to reiterate Israel’s positions on the agreement. At the start of the cabinet meeting on July 9, Netanyahu said that both Putin and Tillerson had told him they understand Israel’s position and will take its requirements into account. However, when Jerusalem obtained the text of the deal, it discovered to its surprise that the Americans and Russians "had ignored Israel’s positions almost completely."

“The agreement as it is now is very bad” one senior Israeli official said. “It doesn't take almost any of Israel's security interests and it creates a disturbing reality in southern Syria. The agreement doesn’t include a single explicit word about Iran, Hezbollah or the Shi’ite militias in Syria.”

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What Israel's opposition to the Syrian ceasefire means, is unclear. While the deal is surprisingly still holding one week after its implementation, perhaps the longest period of time a Syrian ceasefire has held for the duration of the country's 6-year war, with Israel voicing its non-compliance, it is possible that it will be none other than Netanyahu who breaches the terms of the agreement should Israel feel "threatened" by Hezbollah, or other Shi'ite militias.

Whether that will force Trump to choose between Putin and Netanyahu is open to debate. However, it likely means that now that the Syrian war is slowly fading away, the region's longest-simmering, dominant conflict, that between Iran and Israel, is about to retake its rightful place.

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