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Helsinki summit: Trump, Putin meet face to face after an hour-long delay

Helsinki summit: Trump, Putin meet face to face after an hour-long delay

Trump-Putin summit

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Trump reportedly delayed in leaving the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa, where he was staying for the day.

The much-anticipated summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has finally begun as both leaders arrived at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki.

As per media reports the summit is running behind the schedule asVladimir Putin's motorcade arrived around half an hour late for the summit.

Donald Trump also arrived around 1.57 pm local time, minutes later of Putin who arrived around 1:30 pm.

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Trump reportedly delayed in leaving the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa, where he was staying for the day.

Putin flew to Helsinki for the summit a day after he attended the World Cup final in Moscow and he arrived around.

Interestingly, this is not the first time Putin delayed a meeting. In past, Putin has been late for meetings with the Pope and British Queen, among many others.

However, as both come face to face, Trump looked upbeat as he said that he is hoping for 'extraordinary relationship' with Putin.

The Kremlin also said that it did not expect much from the meeting but hoped it would be a "first step" to resolving a crisis in ties.

"Presidents Trump and Putin respect each other and they get along well," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "There is no clear agenda. It will be determined by the heads of state themselves as they go along."

The summit comes at a time when relations between the two superpowers are widely seen on both sides to be at their lowest point since the Cold War. Trump has repeatedly said it would be in the US interest to improve those ties.

Meanwhile, hours before the summit, Trump blamed the US for its deteriorating relations with Russia on Twitter as he lashed out at US special prosecutor Robert Mueller's probe on Russia's alleged role in 2016 US election meddling.

Trump has said that he will bring this issue into the discussion.