US leader cautious ahead of Helsinki talks

US President Donald Trump will meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin later on Monday, ending a tumultuous European tour in which he criticised his allies.

Mr Trump said he had “low expectations” ahead of the talks in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, but added that “maybe some good” would come of them.

The summit comes after 12 Russians were charged with hacking in the 2016 US elections.

Mr Trump says he will raise the issue, but there is no formal agenda.

The two leaders will meet one-on-one, and will be joined only by their interpreters. It is the first-ever summit between Mr Putin and Mr Trump – although they have previously met on the sidelines of multilateral talks.

There have been calls in the US for Mr Trump to cancel the meeting altogether over the indictments of Russian military intelligence agents, announced on Friday.

Russia denies the allegations, and says it is looking forward to the talks as a vehicle for improving relations.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said both sides have agreed the meeting will have no set agenda.

But he said he found it “hard to believe” Mr Putin did not know about the alleged election hacking and the subject would be mentioned.

“That’s what one of the purposes of this meeting is, so the president can see eye to eye with President Putin and ask him about it,” he told ABC News.

Mr Trump has also been urged to raise the poisoning of two people in the UK who came into contact with the nerve agent Novichok. Investigators believe the incident is linked to the poisoning of a former Russian spy in March.

Mr Trump elaborated on what will be discussed at the summit during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Theresa May last week.

“We’ll be talking about Syria,” he said. “We’ll be talking about other parts of the Middle East. I will be talking about nuclear proliferation.”

BBC