When was Donald Trump’s summit with Vladimir Putin and what did they discuss?
DONALD Trump met with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in a groundbreaking summit that brought the US President's European tour to a close.
Western allies of the US were fearful the US President could destroy Europe's efforts to punish Russia after the spy poisoning scandal by brokering some kind of "peace deal". Here's what happened.
When was Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin?
Trump and Putin met in Helsinki on July 16, 2018 - just days after Trump's trip to Britain.
The talks sparked concerns Putin could use the opportunity to persuade Trump to downgrade his military commitments in Europe - hugely compromising Nato countries against Russian aggression.
The summit came at a time of mounting tensions between Russia and Europe, after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal on British soil led to the expulsion of scores of diplomats on both sides.
On his visit to Europe for a Nato summit the week before meeting Putin, Trump outlined his support for Nato but once again reiterated his belief that European allies should invest more in their militaries.
Where did the summit take place?
The pair met in Helsinki, the capital of Finland.
The city played host to major Cold War summits between leaders such as Leonid Breznhev and Gerald Ford in 1975 and Mikhail Gorbachev and George Bush Snr in 1990 before going on to host a meeting between Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton in 1997.
What did they discuss?
Both leaders hailed "useful" talks in Helsinki, although Trump faced a backlash in the aftermath for appearing to ignore US intelligence in favour of Putin's word.
Following the meeting, Trump hailed "open and deeply productive" talks with the Russian President and insisted Moscow had not interfered with the 2016 US election.
He said: "I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.
"He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be.”
Trump and his administration are at the centre of an FBI probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is looking for links between Trump's team and Russian election interference.
Just three days before the summit Mueller indicted 12 Russian members of the Russian intelligence agency GRU, accusing them of engaging in a "sustained effort" to hack Democrats' emails and computers.
After two hours of private discussions, Trump declared: "We made the first steps towards a brighter future, grounded on cooperation and peace. Refusing to engage will not accomplish anything.
"The disagreements between our two countries are well-known and president Putin and I discussed them at length today.
"Even during the tensions of the Cold War, when the world looked much different than it does today, Russia and the US were able to maintain a strong dialogue.
"Our relationship has never been worse than it is now. However, that changed. As of about four hours ago. This was a very constructive day. I’m sure we’ll be meeting again in the future, often."
Putin, looking noticeably happier than earlier in the day, said: "The Cold War has ended a long time ago, the situation in the world has drastically changed. Russia and the United States are now facing totally different challenges."
He added the meeting marked the first steps to restore "an acceptable level of trust and go back to previous level of interaction on all mutual interest issues".
Trump's comments regarding the Russia probe and the FBI caused anger back in the US.
After arriving back in Washington, Trump sought to clarify his remarks amid a furious reaction from Republicans.
He said: "I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't'."
"The sentence should have been, 'I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia.'"