WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump blamed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for Moscow's alleged attempts in interfering in the 2016 US presidential election.
Taking a complete U-turn on election meddling during a CBS interview, Trump said that he held Putin personally responsible for the election interference.
He acknowledged the assessments made by US intelligence agencies, which held Russia responsible for meddling in the presidential election.
Earlier on Monday, Trump had endorsed Putin's stance on Russia's non-involvement in the 2016 US presidential election, insisting that he ran a clean campaign.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused forces in the United States of trying to undermine the success of his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Speaking to Russian diplomats from around the world assembled in Moscow today, he said those forces appeared ready to sacrifice U.S. jobs and hurt the U.S. economy while waging their political battle.
President Putin said it would have been naive to expect that the summit could have resolved problems that had built up over many years in the space of a few hours, but that a start has been made.
AFP